‘Er’ Returns At Top Of Week’s Neilsen Ratings

To crack the top 10 in the Nielsen rankings last week, a television show either had to be on NBC’s Thursday night schedule, be a newsmagazine or feature an angel.

Television viewers welcomed original episodes of “ER” back from a lengthy absence. It was the week’s most-watched show, enabling NBC to win the week with a 9.8 rating and 17 share, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday.

CBS finished a strong second with a 9.1 rating and 16 share. ABC was third with a 7.7 rating and 13 share, followed by Fox’s 6.5 rating and 11 share.

Prime-time ratings as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for April 7-13. Listings include the week’s ranking, with rating for the week, season-to-date rankings in parentheses, and total homes.

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, 23.6, 22.9 million homes.

2. (2) “Seinfeld,” NBC, 21.7, 21.1 million homes.

3. “Fired Up,” NBC, 18.8, 18.2 million homes.

4. (5) “Friends,” NBC, 16.3, 15.8 million homes.

5. (4) “Suddenly Susan,” NBC, 15.7, 15.2 million homes.

6. (10) “60 Minutes,” CBS, 15.2, 14.7 million homes.

7. (10) “Touched by an Angel,” CBS, 13.7, 13.3 million homes.

8. (16) “PrimeTime Live,” ABC, 12.9, 12.5 million homes.

9. “Dateline NBC,” (Friday) 12.4, 12.0 million homes.

10. (17) “Dateline NBC,” (Tuesday) 12.1, 11.7 million homes.