The Drew Barrymore Show kicked off its seventh season with its highest viewership ever for a premiere episode, and new court show Adam’s Law, produced by Judge Judy Sheindlin and featuring her son, Judge Adam Levy, debuted as the top new syndicated strip. Both shows come from CBS Media Ventures.
The September 14 season debut of The Drew Barrymore Show saw its highest numbers ever in total viewers, up 21% vs last season’s premiere. Averaging 1.8 million total viewers, the show ranks No. 3 among syndicated talk shows in households, total viewers and women/adults 18-49 / 25-54.
Other CBS Media Ventures syndicated titles also fared well during premiere week. Entertainment Tonight remained the No. 1 entertainment news magazine, with Inside Edition the No. 1 daily news magazine and Hot Bench the No. 1 court show still in production. The Perfect Line, hosted by Deborah Norville, ranked as the No. 4 syndicated game show behind Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud.
The stats come amid a diminished first-run syndication field, with Kelly Clarkson ending her daytime talker The Kelly Clarkson Show after seven seasons at the end of August. Sherri Shepherd’s daytime talk show Sherri was canceled after four seasons in February. And in March, NBCUniversal announced it was exiting the first-run syndication business all-together, with Access Hollywood and its offshoot Access Live, The Steve Wilkos Show and Karamo all ending. The Drew Barrymore Show and The Jennifer Hudson Show are the last remaining daytime talkers produced under the traditional syndication model.