'Deal' leads fall syndication pack

NBC Universal show leads in key demos

By DANIEL FRANKEL

Howie Mandel-hosted gamer 'Deal or No Deal' is leading among syndie frosh so far this season.

With the fall season’s first three weeks of national ratings in, the daytime version of NBC U’s "Deal or No Deal" has emerged as the early leader among rookie syndicated strips, garnering a 1.7 live plus same day household rating for the week ended Sept. 28.

The Howie Mandel-hosted gameshow saw 13% growth in households over week two, with "Deal" also leading new firstrun series in key demos including women 25-54 (also up 13% from week two to 0.9).

Among other big daytime syndie launches this year, CBS’ med-themed gabber "The Doctors" has yielded a flat household ratings arc since its Sept. 8 debut, garnering a 1.3 for its first two weeks, then tapering off 8% in week three to a 1.2.

Another significant firstrun launch, Warner Bros.’ "The Bonnie Hunt Show," produced a 0.8 household number in week three, with Nielsen reprocessing its first two weeks’ worth of ratings.

Among off-net series, off-TBS comedy "Tyler Perry’s House of Payne," from distrib Debmar-Mercury, is an early rookie leader, premiering with a 2.0.

Meanwhile, as far as established firstrun strips go, entertainment newsmags experienced some of the biggest ratings spikes for the week ended Sept. 28, with skeins including CBS’ "Entertainment Tonight" (up 14% to a 4.2 household mark), "Inside Edition" (up 8% to a 2.8) and "The Insider" (up 6% to a 1.9), NBC U’s "Access Hollywood" (up 6% to a 1.9) and Warner’s "Extra" (up 7% to a 1.6) all posting Emmy coverage-related gains.