• by Wayne Friedman , September 25, 2012

There were few big eye-opening winners for the first week of the syndication season -- except for Warner Bros.' "The Big Bang Theory," which gained more over its competitors.

"The Big Bang Theory" was the dominant leader, with a Nielsen 9.8 million viewers. Then came CBS' longtime syndication heavyweight "Wheel of Fortune," with almost 1 million viewers back at 8.9 million, followed by CBS' "Judge Judy" at 8.6 million, CBS' "Jeopardy" at 7 million, and Twentieth Television's "Family Guy" with 5.6 million.

The next five include: "Family Feud" at 5.5 million; CBS' "Entertainment Tonight" with 4.6 million; CBS "Inside Edition" at 4.0 million; Twentieth Television's' "How I Met Your Mother" with 3.64 million; and CBS' "Dr. Phil," at 3.48 million.

In the high-profile talk arena, Warner Bros. Brand Networks' "Ellen Degeneres" grabbed the top spot among key women 25-54 viewers with a 1.6 rating -- its best opening-week result ever. Disney-ABC Domestic Television "Live with Kelly & Michael" was next at 1.4 rating; with CBS' "Dr. Phil" and Sony Pictures Television "Dr. Oz" and NBCUniversal Television Distribution "Maury"
tied at 1.2.

Disney-ABC's highly marketed new afternoon talker "Katie" came in with a 1.1 rating. Another new NBCUniversal show, "Steve Harvey," earned a 0.9.

Overall, viewers for talk went to "Dr. Phil" at 3.4 million, followed by "Ellen" at 3.3 million, "Kelly & Michael" with 3.2 million, "Oz" at 3 million, "Maury" at 2.7 million and "Katie" at 2.5 million.