‘Jurassic Park’ Eats Up Competition
NBC, with monster ratings for the TV premiere of “Jurassic Park,” devoured the competition in the first week of the May sweeps.
“Jurassic Park” was the mostwatched program of the week, receiving a rating of 23.3. That means it reached about 20 million homes.
NBC, which paid a reported $50 million to air the dinosaur movie before cable did, also saw its regular series “ER,” “Friends” and “Seinfeld” finish 2-3-4 in the ratings for the week of May 1-7.
The ratings sweep began April 27. It’s one of three monthlong periods a year when the ratings are used to help local stations set their advertising rates.
Overall, NBC received a commanding 12.7 rating and 21 percent share of the prime-time audience; ABC, winner of the ‘94-95 season, had an 11.5 rating and a 19 share. CBS got a 10.4 rating and a 17 share. Fox Broadcasting Co. had a 6.3 rating and a 10 share.
A single ratings point equals 954,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s 95.4 million TV homes estimated by Nielsen Media Research. Share is the percentage of in-use sets tuned to a network during a specific time period.
In the night nightly news ratings, ABC’s “World News Tonight” led with a 9. “NBC Nightly News” had a 7.4, and “CBS Evening News” a 7.1.
xxxx Top 35 Nielsen rating winners Here are the top 35 shows, their networks and ratings for May 1-7. (An “X” in parentheses denotes one-time-only presentation): 1. (23) “NBC Sunday Night Movie: Jurassic Park,” NBC, 23.3, 22.2 million homes 2. (2) “ER,” NBC, 22.4, 21.4 million homes 3. (7) “Friends,” NBC, 20.7, 19.7 million homes 4. (1) “Seinfeld,” NBC, 20.0, 19.1 million homes 5. (3) “Home Improvement,” ABC, 18.2, 17.4 million homes 6. (X) “CBS Special Movie Monday: Buffalo Girls PT 2,” CBS, 16.9, 16.1 million homes 7. (X) “Ellen,” ABC, 15.9, 15.2 million homes 8. (X) “Home Improvement,” ABC, 15.6, 14.9 million homes 9. (4) “Grace Under Fire,” ABC, 15.5, 14.8 million homes 10. “Coach,” ABC, 14.8, 14.1 million homes 11. (8) “NYPD Blue,” ABC, 14.6, 13.9, million homes 12. (6) “60 Minutes,” CBS, 14.5, 13.8 million homes 13. (X) “David Copperfield XVI,” CBS, 14.4, 13.7 million homes 14. (13) “Hope & Gloria,” NBC, 14.0, 13.4 million homes 14. (18) “NBC Monday Night Movie: If Someone Had Known,” NBC, 14.0, 13.4 million homes 14. (16) “20-20,” ABC, 14.0, 13.4 million homes 17. “PrimeTime Live,” ABC, 13.6, 13.0 million homes 18. (22) “ABC Sunday Night Movie: Matlock: The Scam,” ABC, 13.2, 12.6 million homes 18. (11) “Mad About You,” (Thursday) NBC, 13.2, 12.6 million homes 20. “ABC Monday Night Movie: Bodyguard,” ABC, 13.0, 12.4 million homes 20. (13) “Ellen,” ABC, 13.0, 12.4 million homes 22. “Frasier,” NBC, 12.9 23. “Thunder Alley,” ABC, 12.8 24. “Murder, She Wrote,” CBS, 12.3 25. “Roseanne,” ABC, 11.8, 26. “Dateline NBC - Tuesday,” NBC, 11.3 26. “Family Matters,” ABC, 11.3 28. “Boy Meets World,” ABC, 11.1 29. “Law & Order,” NBC, 10.5 29. “Step By Step,” ABC, 10.5 31. “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper,” ABC, 10.3 31 “Walker, Texas Ranger,” CBS, 10.3 33. “CBS Sunday Movie: Ghost,” CBS, 10.2 33. “Pride & Joy,” NBC, 10.2 35. “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” ABC, 9.8 Associated Press