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Dud debut for
talker 'Wendy Williams'

Lots of pre-launch hype but ratings in the toilet

By Kevin Downey
Jul 23, 2009

There was reason to think “Wendy Williams” might well premiere to big ratings when it launched in syndication last week, certainly if distributor Debmar-Mercury’s description of its trial run last summer as a rousing success was to be believed.

Add on top of that a heap of pre-launch publicity that gave every impression that the show, from longtime New York radio host Williams, was on its way to being the next “Oprah Winfrey.”

As it turns out, the show is a dud.

"Williams” is pulling lower ratings than two far-less-hyped summer premieres, “Wedlock or Deadlock” and “Beyond Twisted.”

In its first week, “Wendy” averaged a 0.9 household rating and a 3 share in metered markets, an 18 percent dip from what its timeslots averaged last year and down 10 percent from its lead-in shows.

"Williams" did fairly well in New York, where the host is well known, pulling a 1.6/6, a 7 percent boost for the timeslot from a year-ago.

But it pulled sickly numbers, below a 1 rating, in 31 of 42 metered markets where it’s airing.

Making it all the worse, “Williams” is getting clobbered by two test-run shows airing in only a handful of markets, neither of which looks to be doing all that well.

“Wedlock,” a spinoff of “Divorce Court” that premiered on Monday, averaged a 1.3/4 in its first two days but slid markedly from day one to day two, averaging a 1.5/5 Monday but then a 1.1/3 Tuesday. Its timeslot average is down 28 percent from a year ago.

“Beyond Twisted” from “TMZ’s” Harvey Levin, which is a video clip show mostly airing in the evening and late night, averaged a 1.1/3 in its first two weeks, down 42 percent from last year’s timeslot average.

***

In daypart ratings for the week ended July 12, ABC’s “Nightline” led the week with 4.0 million total viewers, followed by CBS’s “The Late Show with David Letterman” with 3.7 million and NBC’s “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” with 2.8 million. In late late night, CBS’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” averaged 1.6 million viewers, with NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” bringing in 1.3 million and NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” at 0.8 million. Among 18-49s, “Tonight” averaged a 1.1 rating, followed by “Nightline” at 1.0 and “Late Show” at 0.8. In late late night, “Late Night” averaged a 0.5 with encore episodes, while “Kimmel” and “Late Late Show” each averaged a 0.4 and “Last Call” averaged a 0.3 (with encores for “Kimmel” and “Last Call).

NBC’s “Meet the Press” was the most-watched Sunday morning show on July 12 with 2.74 million tuning in, followed by ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” with 2.62 million viewers, CBS’s “Face the Nation” with 2.36 million and Fox “News Sunday” with 962,000. Among the 25-54 demographic, NBC and ABC each averaged a 0.7 rating, followed by CBS 0.5 and Fox at 0.3.

In morning shows, NBC’s “Today” was first for the week with 4.6 million total viewers, followed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” with 3.8 million and CBS’s “Early Show” with 2.4 million. “Today” averaged a 3.6 household rating and a 14 share, followed by “Good Morning America” at 2.9/11 and “Early Show” at 1.8/7.

In daytime, CBS was first with 3.33 million total viewers, ABC second with 2.72 million and NBC third with 2.68 million. Among women 18-49, NBC was first with a 1.2 rating, followed by ABC and CBS at 1.1.

In evening network news for the week ended July 19, NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” was first with 7.43 million total viewers and a 1.8 rating among adults 25-54. ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” averaged 6.54 million viewers and a 1.4 rating, followed by CBS’s “Evening News with Katie Couric” with 5.12 million and a 1.1 rating.

SUNDAY MORNING SHOW RATINGS Week ending July 12, 2009 Sunday averages
Program	Network	Households
Program	Network	Rtg%	Shr	Adults 25-54	Total viewers (millions)
Meet the Press	NBC	2.0	6	0.7	2.744
This Week With George Stephanopoulos	ABC	1.9	6	0.7	2.617
Face the Nation	CBS	1.7	5	0.5	2.359
News Sunday	Fox	0.7	2	0.3	0.962
Source: NTI

LATE-NIGHT RATINGS Week Ending July 12, 2009 Five-day averages
Program	Network	People 2+	Adults 18-49
Program	Network	Total viewers (millions)	Rtg%
Nightline	ABC	3.8	1.0
Late Show with David Letterman	CBS	3.7	0.8
Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien	NBC	2.8	1.1
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson	CBS	1.6	0.4
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon*	NBC	1.3	0.5
Jimmy Kimmel Live*	ABC	1.3	0.4
Last Call with Carson Daly*	NBC	0.8	0.3
* Encore telecasts Source: NTI

MORNING SHOW RATINGS Week Ending July 12, 2009 Five-day averages
Program	Network	Households		People 2+
Program	Network	Rtg%	Shr	Total viewers (millions)
Today	NBC	3.6	14	4.625
Good Morning America	ABC	2.9	11	3.788
Early Show	CBS	1.8	7	2.365
Source: NTI

DAYTIME RATINGS Week Ending July 12, 2009 Five-day averages
	Total viewers (millions)	Women 18-49
Network	(millions)	Rtg%
CBS	3.33	1.1
ABC	2.72	1.1
NBC	2.68	1.2
Source: NTI

EVENING NETWORK NEWS RATINGS Week Ending July 19, 2009 Five-day averages
Program	Network	25-54s	People 2+
Program	Network	Rtg%	Total viewers (millions)
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams	NBC	1.8	7.425
ABC World News with Charles Gibson	ABC	1.4	6.539
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric	CBS	1.1	5.121
Source: Nielsen Media Research

SYNDICATION Ranked on Households Week Ending July 12, 2009
#	PROGRAMS	Syndicator	Households
#	PROGRAMS	Syndicator	US Rtg%	(000)
1	WHEEL OF FORTUNE	CTD	5.7	6492
2	JEOPARDY	CTD	4.8	5513
3	ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT)	CTD	4.2	4787
4	TWO-HALF MEN-SYN (AT)	WB	3.9	4489
5	JUDGE JUDY (AT)	CTD	3.8	4345
6	OPRAH WINFREY SHOW	CTD	3.7	4223
7	FAMILY GUY-MF-SYN (AT)	2/T	3.3	3804
8	INSIDE EDITION (AT)	CTD	2.9	3349
9	DR. PHIL SHOW (AT)	CTD	2.8	3149
9	SEINFELD (AT)	SPT	2.8	3160
11	KING OF THE HILL-SYN(AT)	2/T	2.7	3069
11	GEORGE LOPEZ (AT)	WB	2.7	3083
13	CSI NEW YORK-SYN(AT)	CTD	2.6	2977
13	EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN(AT)	CTD	2.6	3024
13	SEINFELD-WKND (AT)	SPT	2.6	2944
16	LAW & ORDER:SVU-SYN (AT)	NBU	2.5	2846
16	WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND	CTD	2.5	2874
18	LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY	DAD	2.3	2684
19	MILLIONAIRE (AT)	DAD	2.2	2483
19	KING OF QUEENS-SYN (AT)	SPT	2.2	2518
21	KING OF QUEENS-WKND (AT)	SPT	2.0	2274
21	ACCESS HOLLYWOOD (AT)	NBU	2.0	2234
21	FRIENDS (AT)	WB	2.0	2248
24	ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT WKD	CTD	1.9	2136
24	CSI MIAMI-SYN (AT)	CTD	1.9	2194
24	TMZ (AT)	WB	1.9	2209
24	TWO-HALF MEN WKND B (AT)	WB	1.9	2184
24	JUDGE JOE BROWN (AT)	CTD	1.9	2190
24	HOUSE OF PAYNE MF-SYN(AT)	2/T	1.9	2201
Source: Nielsen Media Research