Willey Interview Helps ‘60 Minutes’ Top Ratings

Ed Bradley’s interview with former White House volunteer Kathleen Willey, who accused President Clinton of making unwanted sexual advances, helped “60 Minutes” finish on top of the week’s television ratings for the first time in four years.

The venerable CBS newsmagazine last topped the ratings in January 1994, when it was helped by an NFL football playoff preceding it.

NBC won the prime-time crown in a week where TV viewership was down with a 9.2 rating and 15 share, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday. CBS was second with an 8.8 rating and 15 share, followed by ABC’s 8.4 rating and 14 share and Fox’s 7.1 rating and 12 share.

“60 Minutes,” with an audience average of 28.7 million people on Sunday, easily outdrew its nearest competitor last week, a “Seinfeld” rerun. It was the newsmagazine’s second high-profile interview in two weeks, following a talk with Latrell Sprewell, the NBA star suspended for choking his coach.

Some critics, however, accused CBS of going easy on Willey during the interview.

The premier of “Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place” gave ABC some much-needed good news, and Fox, which rejected the show, some heartburn. It finished 11th for the week and became the highest-rated series premier this year except for “Veronica’s Closet” and “Union Square” on NBC’s powerhouse Thursday schedule.

By contrast, Fox’s new “Significant Others” tied for 85th place in its premier.

Fox’s freshman “Ally McBeal” was the network’s highest-rated show of the week at 19th and scored its best ratings ever.

USA Network reported that the Sunday premier of its miniseries “Moby Dick” delivered the biggest audience ever - 10.9 million - for an original entertainment show on cable television.

Prime-time ratings as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for March 9-15. Top 10 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. The rating is the percentage of the nation’s estimated 98 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 980,000 households.

1. (7) “60 Minutes,” CBS, 19.4, 19.0 million homes.

2. (2) “Seinfeld,” NBC, 17.2, 16.8 million homes.

3. (4) “Friends,” NBC, 14.9, 14.6 million homes.

4. (20) “Just Shoot Me,” NBC, 14.7, 14.4.

5. (1) “ER,” NBC, 14.4, 14.1 million homes.

5. (6) “Touched By an Angel,” CBS, 14.4, 14.1 million homes.

7. (3) “Veronica’s Closet,” NBC, 14.3, 14.0 million homes.

8. (17) “Drew Carey Show,” ABC, 14.0, 13.7 million homes.

9. (10) “Home Improvement,” ABC, 12.5, 12.2 million homes.

9. (22) “PrimeTime Live,” ABC, 12.5, 12.2 million homes.

11. “Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place,” ABC, 12.3, 12.0 million homes.

12. “20/20,” ABC, 12.1, 11.8 million homes.

13. (X) “Home Improvement,” ABC, 11.8, 11.5 million homes.

14. “CBS Sunday Movie: A Father for Brittany,” CBS, 11.5, 11.2 million homes.

15. “Dharma & Greg,” ABC, 11.4, 11.1 million homes.

16. “Dateline NBC-Monday,” NBC, 11.3, 11.0 million homes.

16. “20/20,” ABC, 11.3, 11.0 million homes.

18. “Dateline NBC-Tuesday,” NBC, 11.2, 10.7 million homes.

19. “Ally McBeal,” Fox, 11.0, 10.7 million homes.

20. “Everybody Loves Raymond,” CBS, 10.3, 10.0 million homes.

20. (X) “Miss USA Pageant,” CBS, 10.3, 10.0 million homes.