Nbc Big Winner In Weekly Nielsen Ratings

NBC was the decisive winner in the ratings last week propelled by a one-two-three ranking of “ER,” “Seinfeld” and “Friends,” according to figures released Tuesday. ABC, third place for the week ending Feb. 26, holds the ratings lead for the season so far, Nielsen Media Research figures show.

NBC had a 13.3 rating and 21 share which propelled its Thursday night lineup.

In second place for the week, CBS logged an 11.6 rating and 19 share, while ABC had an 11.3 rating and 18 share. Programming 15 of the 22 prime-time hours, Fox had an 8.3 rating and 13 share.

In the evening news race, ABC’s “World News Tonight” notched its 129th first-place finish of the last 130 weeks with a 9.9 rating and 19 share.

“NBC Nightly News” scored an 8 rating and 16 share, with “The CBS Evening News” on its heels with an 8 rating and 15 share.

The following list includes the week’s ranking, with rating for the week, season-to-date rankings in parentheses, and total homes.

An “X” in parentheses denotes one-time-only presentation. A rating measures the percentage of the nation’s 95.4 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 954,000 households.

1. (3) “E.R.,” NBC, 24.3, 23.2 million homes

2. (1) “Seinfeld,” NBC, 22.4, 21.4 million homes

3. “Friends,” NBC, 20.8, 19.8 million homes

4. (2) “Home Improvement,” ABC, 18.9, 18.0 million homes

4. (6) “60 Minutes,” CBS, 18.9, 18.0 million homes

6. (14) “Frasier,” NBC, 18.8, 17.9 million homes

7. (7) “NYPD Blue,” ABC, 17.7, 16.9 million homes

8. (9) “Murder, She Wrote,” CBS, 17.6, 16.8 million homes

9. (X) “Friends,” NBC, 17.5, 16.7 million homes

10. (4) “Grace Under Fire,” ABC, 17.0, 16.2 million homes

10. (16) “20-20,” ABC, 17.0, 16.2 million homes.