• by Wayne Friedman , December 13, 2006

Syndication's sitcom business--one of the industry's pillars--took another hit this past November.

Three big-rated off-net sitcoms--"Everybody Loves Raymond," "Seinfeld" and "Friends"--fell steeply this November, down 18%, 20% and 31%, respectively, to Nielsen household ratings of 5.3, 4.5 and 3.7, versus 2005. Collectively, these ratings declines were more than double those of a year ago.

As has been widely reported, the networks have had trouble the last several years in launching traditional sitcoms. There are few readily available alternatives for stations in the future. There is a big market for shows that are self-starters and boast built-in brand appeal.

"There are no replacements," says Brad Adgate, senior vice president and corporate research director for Horizon Media. "Stations really like these Monday-to-Friday shows. It fills a niche against Letterman and Leno. It's a profit center. The only thing you pay for are the license fees."

But in the future, Adgate thinks more comedy from original cable could be the answer.

HBO's "Sex in the City" made a transition to basic cable and syndication. "Maybe they could clean up 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' too," he says.

While sitcoms were licking their wounds in November ratings, talk shows and magazine programs were also suffering--just not as badly.

"Oprah Winfrey" was down 13% to a 7.1 in November; "Live with Regis & Kelly" lost 5% to a 3.5; "Maury" was off 17% to a 2.4; and "Ellen" sank 13% to a 2.1. Only "Dr. Phil" saw improvement, up 2% to a 5.6.

In general, new talkers--save "Rachael Ray"--continued to suffer. "Ray" earned a steady 2.1, which was almost double the 1.1 for "Dr. Keith Ablow." Both "Greg Behrendt" and "Megan Mullally" posted a 0.8 rating. Except for "Ray," all three new talkers were anywhere from 30% to 40% off their respective station time periods of a year ago.

That said, some media buyers have complained that "Ray" is off its promised rating guarantees, too. Horizon's Adgate says media buyers shouldn't expect much more than the current "Ray" levels. "For a first-year talk show, I don't see how people could expect a show to do better than a 2.5 rating," he says.

In other genres, "Entertainment Tonight" was one of a handful of syndication shows that witnessed gains in November. "E.T" grabbed a 5.6 number, up 2% versus November 2005. Others were down or unchanged: "Inside Edition" was down 8%; "The Insider" off 10%; "Access Hollywood" unchanged; and "Extra" down 4%.

Two game shows saw rating upgrades in November: "Jeopardy!" up 3% from last year to a 6.8 average and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" 6% higher at a 3.3. Court shows offered results that were mostly off a year ago; industry leader "Judge Judy" dropped 2% to a 4.8. "Judge Joe Brown" lost 6% to a 3.0.