Weeklies shine in otherwise dull Christmas week

Review based on a national syndicated rating report for the week ending December 30.

While low-viewing and preemptions for holiday specials turned the lights outs for most first-run strips in the Christmas week session ending December 30, several of the top off-net weekly hours celebrated double digit increases.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent (new season high 1.6 live plus same day national Nielsen rating, up 23% from the week before), American Ninja Warrior (new season high 1.5, up 36%) and the weekly version of Chicago PD (new season high 1.4, up 17%) all bucked the downtrend. Honors for highest ratings in the category went to the weekly version of Dateline (3.4, steady).

Among strips off-net newcomer Chicago PD (new season high 1.1, up 10%) captured its strongest ratings to date and spiked 25% in the coveted W25-54 age group.

In first-run, shows moving up were few and far between. However Live with Kelly and Ryan (2.3, up 5%) – which aired taped and repackaged shows for part of the week – rose to the occasion and equaled its best ratings of the season. But that was the only talk show able to break into positive territory during the holiday week.

Dr. Phil (2.3, down 21%), which was in reruns on all five days and was one of the very few talkers to include the lightly-viewed Christmas Day in its average, landed in a tie for first place with “Kelly and Ryan.”

Others in talk’s big five included Ellen DeGeneres (1.8, down 5%), Maury (1.4, unchanged) and an all-repeat week of Steve Harvey’s Steve (1.2, down 8%).

Talk show wannabe Breakthrough with Dr. Steve Perry (0.4/1 metered market average, down 50% from year-ago time period) got off to a sluggish start as it began a two-week tryout on January 7.

On the other hand, entertainment magazines were the big rating winners with their January 7 Golden Globe recap coverage.

Access (1.9/4 weighted metered market average on January 7 for all telecasts, up 36% from its year-ago time periods), Extra (1.5/4, up 15%) and Entertainment Tonight (2.8/5, up 17%) were especially hot.

In addition Page Six TV did well, scoring gains of 13% in top market New York and 50% in No. 2 market Los Angeles over last year.