• by Wayne Friedman , November 23, 2005

The November sweeps have been good for all new first-run syndication strips.

Twentieth Television's "Judge Alex" led the way, with a 2.1 Nielsen Media Research household rating--up 5 percent over the previous week. NBC Universal's "Martha" improved 6 percent, to a 1.8 number. Warner Bros.' "The Tyra Banks Show" grew 7 percent to a 1.6. But "Tyra"'s real story was continued strength, and it led in all young and older female demographics for new shows--viewer groups that are in high demand for daytime advertisers.

While the first-run strips made solid gains, off-network strips did even more of the heavy lifting. Twentieth's "Bernie Mac" was up 5 percent to a 2.3 household number; Buena Vista Television's "My Wife and Kids" also posted a 2.3 rating--the same as the previous week.

Among other sitcoms, Warner Bros.' "Sex and the City" slipped 5 percent to a 2.1, while Debmar/Mercury's "South Park" hit a series high--up 7 percent to a 1.6.

In the hour weekly category, Buena Vista's "Alias" was the leader with a 2.3 rating, down 4 percent from the week before. Close behind was Twentieth's "24," up 5 percent to a 2.2. Program Partners' "Da Vinci's Inquest" climbed 5 percent as well, to a 2.0 rating.