Nbc Dominates Thursday Night

On Thursday, ABC got a taste but only a taste - of how CBS has been feeling so far this new TV season, finishing fourth for the night behind the NBC juggernaut, CBS and two hours of Fox.

NBC, debuting a revamped lineup for the one night of the week that has kept the network in contention the past year or so, averaged a huge 22.6 national Nielsen rating and a 36 percent share for the three hours of prime time, compared with an 8.3/13 for CBS, a 7.6/12 for Fox and a 7.3/11 for ABC, which had won the first three nights of the new season.

NBC said Thursday’s results were the highest for a full night of premieres on any network since Sept. 26, 1985, when NBC was also riding high.

“Friends” got the NBC steamroller started with a 20.5/33 at 8, followed by the new “Single Guy,” at 19.2/30, “Seinfeld,” 24.6/37, the new “Caroline in the City,” 20.5/32, and “ER,” last year’s top-rated new drama, 25.3/41.

The huge reception last week bodes ill for ABC’s “Murder One,” which began a three-week and high-rated (15.5/26) vacation in the 10 p.m. Tuesday time slot before tackling “ER” head-on starting Oct. 12. Each national ratings point represents 959,000 TV homes.