The Jennifer Hudson Show has started its fifth season with a ratings story that daytime syndication rarely delivers: growth, not decline.
Season to date, the show is up 10% in households and among adults 25-54 across its same station and time period occurrences, according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day numbers reported exclusively by TheWrap.
Where the lift is coming from
The sharpest evidence is in stations where the show replaced another talk show. In Boston, The Jennifer Hudson Show is up 54% over the time period after replacing Sherri. In Miami, the lift is 10%, also against Sherri. In Detroit, the show is up 3% after replacing The Kelly Clarkson Show.
Those replacement comparisons matter. A syndicated show is not bought in the abstract; it is bought to hold or improve a local time period. A new show that beats the programme it replaced is doing the job a station bought it to do.
The social and awards picture
The linear rating is only one part of the asset. The Jennifer Hudson Show ranks as the No. 1 daytime talk show across social platforms, with more than 11 billion total views. For a show with guests such as Tom Cruise, Tyler Perry and Jamie Foxx, that social library extends far beyond a local ratings book.
Extra is growing too
The same Warner Bros. TV Telepictures slate has another bright spot. Extra, now in its 33rd season, is up 29% year over year among adults 25-54, the highest percentage growth among magazine shows in the demo.
The local detail is telling: New York is up 43% in the 7 p.m. hour, Chicago is up 15% at 5 p.m., Tampa is up 9% at 6 p.m. and Miami is up 9% at 7 p.m. The show has also added digital franchises such as The Extra Confessional and The Extra Breakdown to give its celebrity coverage a second life online.
Both shows enter Friday’s Daytime Emmy Awards with nominations: five for The Jennifer Hudson Show and three for Extra.
What to take from the numbers
For media planners and entertainment marketers, the lesson is to look at the slot, not just the show.
- Track replacement-slot changes before judging a syndicated programme. A new show should be measured against what it replaced.
- Separate linear ratings from social reach. More than 11 billion views is a content and brand-partnership signal, not a TV rating.
- Watch local market variances. A national average can hide a 43% jump in New York or a 54% gain in Boston that changes a buy.
The story here is not a daytime boom. It is that in a corner of television usually written off as mature, the right programme in the right slot can still produce double-digit growth.
Source: TheWrap
