Syndie 'Ray' of hope

'Geraldo,' 'Rachael' lead in outing

By ADDIE MORFOOT

After a limited run, "Geraldo at Large," which was rolled out nationwide Sept. 11, led all new nationally rated strips with a 1.6 rating in the week ended Sept. 17.

Victory came even though the show is cleared in only 75% of the U.S. and has only late fringe timeslots in the major markets.

New gaveler "Cristina's Court" drew a first week 1.3, while another new courtshow, "Judge Maria Lopez," preemed with a 1.0.

Tyro talker "The Greg Behrendt Show" debuted with a 0.9.

Newcomer "Rachael Ray" had the best first week of any firstrun strip since "Dr. Phil" in 2002, debuting with a 2.6/9, up 24% over its time periods and equaling the ratings of all three of its talk rivals combined.

"The Megan Mullally Show" averaged a 1.0/3, down 29% from its year-ago time-period average.

Turning to the national ratings for returning strips in the week ended Sept. 17, sophomore "The Tyra Banks Show" saw the biggest increase over last year in firstrun with a 36% improvement to 1.5, up 7% week to week.

The only other veteran talker up over last year at this time was "Live With Regis and Kelly" at a 3.3, up 3% year to year. "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" held steady year to year at a 2.2. Most of the other talkers were still in repeats during the week.

Court leader "Judge Judy" opened its 11th season with a 4.4, up 5% from the prior week but still down 2% from last year. "Judge Joe Brown" dropped 7% to a 2.8 and lost 13% year to year.

Elsewhere, magazine skeins continued to be red hot. "Entertainment Tonight" grew for the fifth week in a row, gaining 4% to a 5.1, its highest rating since early March, and was up 16% over last year.

"Inside Edition" was up 3% to a 3.4, gaining 10% year to year. "The Insider" hit its highest ratings in 17 weeks at a 2.7, up 8% week to week and year to year. "Access Hollywood" was up 4% to a 2.6 and up 24% from last year, while "Extra" rose 10% to a 2.2 and was even with last year.

Among gameshows, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" saw the only gains over last year, averaging a 3.0, up 7% for the week and the year for the premiere week of its fifth season in syndication.

Read the full article at:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117950761.html

Like this article? Variety.com has over 150,000 articles, 40,000 reviews and 10,000 pages of charts. Subscribe today!
http://www.variety.com/emailfriend
or call (866) MY-VARIETY.
Can't commit? Sign up for a free trial!
http://www.variety.com/emailfriend