Syndies buffeted by impeachment hearings for most of week

Review based on a national syndicated rating report for the week ending November 24.

Most daytime shows were bombarded by preemptions for impeachment hearings on three of the five weekdays in the session ending November 24.

For example, Nielsen champion Judge Judy (6.3 live plus same day national rating, down 7% from the week before) had its primary run blacked out in five of the 20 largest markets on November 19 alone. Still “Judy” was syndication’s highest rated show for the 16^th time in 17 weeks, tied with Jeopardy (6.3, down 13%) and Wheel of Fortune (6.3, up 2%). Unlike most strips with heavy preemptions, “Judge Judy” did not get the benefit of any days being broken out of its weekly average.

Dr. Phil (2.3, down 8%) topped the talkers for the 168^th week in a row. Live with Kelly & Ryan (2.1, steady) took second place honors for the 39^th straight week. Other top gabfests losing ground included Ellen DeGeneres (1.7, down 11%) and Wendy Williams (1.2, down 14%).

Among the hot rookies The Kelly Clarkson Show (1.3, down 7%), which has already been renewed for next season, was still the top-rated new show despite not getting a breakout on November 21, a day that was marked by a ton of preemptions.

Rising newcomer Tamron Hall (1.0, steady) held its ground at its season high.

Well behind the top two came Mel Robbins (0.4, unchanged), the third of the season’s three new talk shows.

The new court shows were easily led by Jerry Springer’s high profile Judge Jerry (1.0, steady).

Elsewhere all of the top six magazines were down week to week except for TMZ (1.1, steady) and Daily Mail TV (0.8, steady), which tied Extra (0.8, down 11%).

Meanwhile magazine wannabe Central Ave (0.8/2 weighted metered market average) dropped 20% from its lead-in and fell 27% from its year-ago time periods in week four of a five week tryout, which began November 4.