Nbc On Ratings Top; Cbs Falls To Fourth

Putting a crimp in its comeback season, CBS tumbled to fourth place in television ratings as Fox rode postseason baseball to its highestever weekly average.

Season-leader NBC took first place in Nielsen Media Research’s household ratings for the week of Oct. 14-20 with a 10.5 rating and an 18 share.

ABC won a tight race for second with a 9.7 rating and a 16 share, followed by Fox’s 9.6 rating and 16 share and CBS’s 9.4 rating and 16 share, according to Nielsen figures released Tuesday.

It was only the second-ever fourth place showing by CBS, which has been undergoing a resurgence and is still in second place for the season. Its only other fourth-place finish came in September 1995.

Fox’s telecast of Game One of the World Series on Sunday night finished sixth in the weekly ratings. The last two games of the National League Championship Series between the Braves and Cardinals each landed in the top 20.

“Once the World Series is over, our ratings will build back up,” promised David Poltrack, CBS executive vice president for research and planning.

“ER” was the week’s top-rated show, followed by “Seinfeld.” All five shows in NBC’s Thursday night lineup finished among the week’s top ten.

ABC was boosted by the season premiere of “NYPD Blue,” which tied in the ratings with the opening game of the World Series. A strong NFL Monday Night Football matchup between Green Bay and San Francisco and Michael J. Fox’s new sitcom, “Spin City,” also were top performers for ABC.

Prime-time ratings as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Oct. 14-20. Top 20 listings include 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 97.0 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 970,000 households.

1. (1) “ER,” NBC, 22.7, 22.0 million homes

2. (2) “Seinfeld,” NBC, 20.4, 19.8 million homes

3. (4) “NFL Monday Night Football,” ABC, 18.9, 18.3 million homes

4. (3) “Suddenly Susan,” NBC, 17.0, 16.5 million homes

5. (5) “Friends,” NBC, 16.1, 15.6 million homes

6. (X) “Fox World Series Game 1,” Fox, 15.7, 15.2 million homes

6. (8) “NYPD Blue,” ABC, 15.7, 15.2 million homes

8. (6) “Home Improvement,” ABC, 15.6, 15.1 million homes

9. (7) “Single Guy,” NBC, 14.8, 14.4 million homes

10. (9) “Spin City,” ABC, 13.8, 13.4 million homes

11. (13) “60 Minutes,” CBS, 13.0, 12.6 million homes

12. (17) “NBC Monday Night Movies: A Kiss So Deadly,” NBC, 12.7, 12.3 million homes

13. (13) “20/20,” ABC, 12.6, 12.2 million homes

14. (10) “Cosby,” CBS, 12.4, 12.0 million homes

15. (X) “Fox MLB NLCS Game 6,” Fox, 11.9, 11.5 million homes

16. (21) “Walker, Texas Ranger,” CBS, 11.8, 11.4 million homes

17. (X) “Drew Carey Show,” ABC, 11.3, 11.0 million homes

17. (18) “Roseanne,” ABC, 11.3, 11.0 million homes

17. (20) “X-Files,” Fox, 11.3, 11.0 million homes

20. (X) “Fox MLB NLCS Game 7,” Fox, 11.2, 10.9 million homes

21. (11) “Pearl,” CBS, 11.1 21. “3rd Rock From the Sun,” NBC, 11.1

23. “Cybill,” CBS, 11.0 23. “Murphy Brown,” CBS, 11.0

23. “Touched by an Angel,” CBS, 11.0