• by Wayne Friedman , November 20, 2012

Deep into the November sweeps for TV stations, many top national syndication TV shows picked up the pace in the key local TV advertising selling period.

Warner Bros. Brand Networks' "Big Bang Theory" posted Nielsen 11.9 million viewers for the week ending Nov. 5. Its seasonal average has been some 10.0 million viewers.

Then came two CBS Televison Distribution shows: "Wheel of Fortune" was next at 10.8 million, this versus its 9.8 million viewers seasonal average. "Judge Judy" at a 10.2 million in the most recent week; "Judy" season-to-date average was at 9.2 million.

CBS' "Jeopardy" is still in fourth place. But its most recent week came in at 8.2 million; down versus its seasonal average of 8.5 million.

Warner Bros.' "Two and a Half Men" grew to 8.1 million for the first November week versus a 7.1 million. Another off-network sitcom, Twentieth Television's "Family Guy," had 5.6 million against its 5.4 million average.

CBS' "Dr. Phil," still the leading afternoon talk show, posted 4.3 million viewers versus 3.9 million seasonal average. Disney-ABC Domestic Television's "Live with Kelly & Michael" was next at 3.7 million viewers, up around 400,000 viewers from its 3.3 million average. Warner Bros's "Ellen DeGeneres" landed with 3.5 million, improving from its 3.2 million average.

Looking at new shows, Disney-ABC's "Katie" was virtually the same in total viewers versus its seasonal average, 2.4 million. NBCUniversal Television Distribution's "Steve Harvey" moved up to 1.9 million from 1.7 million.

Other wannabes -- perhaps struggling with station clearances and time periods -- were well back on the syndication rating list: Twentieth's "Ricki Lake" was at 924,000 viewers, versus its 935,000 average; CBS' "Jeff Probst" registered 902,000 down from its 919,000 average; "Jeremy Kyle" rose to 818,000 from its 731,000 seasonal average. NBCUniversal's "Trisha" put up 706,000 viewers against 641,000.

advertisement

advertisement