Fox Overtakes Lagging Cbs In Weekly Nielsen Ratings

Talk about a black eye.

Proudly unveiling several new series, along with season premieres of other returnees, CBS got its lights punched out last week.

Officially, the Sept. 11-17 Nielsen ratings report closed the book on a 1994-95 season that saw CBS free-fall from first place to third. But in a dismal final chapter, CBS buried itself into fourth for the week, while Fox Broadcasting Co. breezed to an unaccustomed third.

Winning the week was ABC, with an 11.3 rating and 19 share. Taking second place was NBC, with a 9.8 rating and 17 share. Broadcasting 15 hours of the 22-hour prime-time schedule, Fox scored an 8.4 rating and 14 share.

Then came CBS, with an 8.0 and 14 share.

Fox scored solidly with its “Simpsons” who-shot-Mr.-Burns season premiere, ranking 16th. Not too far behind, at 23rd, was the same network’s season launch of “Beverly Hills, 90210,” up against the debut of “Central Park West,” which was in a tie for a dim 61st place.