Abc’s Evening News Beats Nbc’s Again

Thu., June 5, 1997

David Bauder The Associated Press

The comeback by ABC’s “World News Tonight” gathered steam last week with the news show’s fourth ratings win in five weeks over the “NBC Nightly News.”

Peter Jennings’ broadcast had its widest margin of victory over Tom Brokaw’s show since last September, according to Nielsen Media Research.

NBC still won the week with a 9.5 rating and 17 share. CBS was second with an 8.1 rating and 15 share, followed by ABC’s 7.4 rating and 13 share and Fox’s 4.8 rating and 9 share.

With the summer rerun season beginning, broadcast television showed a marked decrease in viewers, Nielsen said.

Michael Jordan was the week’s most prominent TV star, as NBA playoff games involving his Chicago Bulls comprised two of the week’s three top-rated events.

“World News Tonight” was the top-rated newscast for most of the 1990s until being toppled by Brokaw’s show around the beginning of this year. Criticism of NBC’s broadcast for being too light in tone may have filtered down to some viewers, said media analyst Andrew Tyndall.

NBC said it believes ABC’s turnaround is at least partly due to strong episodes of “Oprah,” which leads into the news for ABC affiliates in many markets.

For the week, “World News Tonight” had a 7.9 rating and 18 share. “NBC Nightly News” had a 7.0 rating and 16 share, followed by the “CBS Evening News” with a 6.2 rating and 14 share.

A rating point represents 970,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 97 million TV homes. Share is the percentage of those televisions tuned to a given show during a specified time period.

Prime-time ratings as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for May 26-June 1. Listings include the week’s ranking, with rating for the week and total homes. An “X” in parentheses denotes one-time-only presentation.

1. (X) NBA Finals Game 1: Utah at Chicago, NBC, 15.8, 15.3 million homes 2. 20/20, ABC, 14.3, 13.9 million homes 3. (X) NBA Playoff Wednesday: Miami at Chicago, NBC, 13.5, 13.1 million homes 4. (X) NBA Playoff Thursday: Utah at Houston, NBC, 13.0, 12.6 million homes 5. Home Improvement, ABC, 12.9, 12.5 million homes 6. PrimeTime Live, ABC, 12.8, 12.4 million homes 7. Seinfeld, NBC, 12.6, 12.2 million homes 8. 60 Minutes, CBS, 12.0, 11.6 million homes 9. Touched by an Angel, CBS, 11.8, 11.4 million homes 10. Friends, NBC, 11.7, 11.3 million homes 11. Spin City, ABC, 11.2, 10.9 million homes 12. (X) NBA Tipoff Thursday, NBC, 11.1, 10.8 million homes 13. 48 Hours, CBS, 11.0, 10.7 million homes 14. (X) NBA Playoff Tuesday: Houston at Utah, NBC, 10.9, 10.6 million homes 15. Nanny (Wednesday), CBS, 9.9, 9.6 million homes 16. (X) NBC Monday Night Movies: Abducted: A Father’s Love, NBC, 9.8, 9.5 million homes 16. 3rd Rock From The Sun, NBC, 9.8, 9.5 million homes 18. (X) NBA Tipoff Wednesday, NBC, 9.6, 9.3 million homes 18. (X) Tony Awards, CBS, 9.6, 9.3 million homes 20. Dateline NBC (Friday), NBC, 9.5, 9.2 million homes

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