Program Triad Helps Carry Cbs To Weekly Ratings Victory

Fri., Nov. 28, 1997

Associated Press

Mob wives, a Hallmark movie and Sunday night angels helped CBS win last week’s ratings race and retain its edge in the November “sweeps” competition, figures showed.

For the week of Nov. 17-23, CBS posted an 11.4 average rating and 18 share, according to Nielsen Media Research. NBC was second with a 10.5 rating and 17 share, followed by ABC with an 8.8 rating and 14 share. Fox had a 7.2 rating and 11 share.

The second part of the miniseries “Bella Mafia,” the “Hallmark Hall of Fame” movie “What the Deaf Man Heard,” and the consistently strong series “Touched by an Angel” were among the best-performing CBS shows.

Even Brad Pitt couldn’t compete with Sunday’s Hallmark-“Angel” lineup, as his film “Legends of the Fall” came in 47th for NBC. Holiday spirit fared better that night, with Tim Allen’s “The Santa Clause” ranking 21st for ABC.

NBC’s big showing, as usual, came from its Thursday night lineup. With a double helping of “Friends,” it captured five of the top 10 spots.

ABC’s top-rated show was “NFL Monday Night Football-Miami vs. Buffalo” at No. 10. Fox’s leading entry was the 11th-ranked “The X-Files.”

While CBS could gloat over its performance in the sweeps - one of several periods of intensive ratings measurement used to help set advertising rates - there are several ways networks count themselves winners.

CBS was, indeed, tops in total households and total viewers with three nights to be counted. But NBC ranked No. 1 among the 18-49 age group deemed most valuable by the advertising community. In that category, older-skewing CBS came in fourth.

Fox is holding onto second place among viewers 18 to 49, outperforming a struggling ABC for the second sweeps period.

Prime-time ratings as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Nov. 17-23. 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. A rating measures the percentage of the nation’s estimated 97 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 980,000 households.

1. (1) “E.R.,” NBC 23.3, 22.6 million homes.

2. (10) “CBS Sunday Movie: What the Dead Man Heard,” CBS, 23.0, 22.3 million homes.

3. (2) “Seinfeld,” NBC, 22.8, 22.1 million homes.

4. (3) “Veronica’s Closet,” NBC, 18.5, 17.9 million homes.

5. (4) “Friends,” NBC, 18.4, 17.8 million homes.

6. (X) “Friends,” NBC, 18.3, 17.7 million homes.

7. (5) “Touched By an Angel,” CBS, 16.7, 16.2 million homes.

8. (12) “60 Minutes,” CBS, 14.7, 14.3 million homes.

9. (X) “CBS Special Movie-Tuesday: Bella Mafia, Part 2 of 2,” CBS, 13.8, 13.4 million homes.

10. (7) “NFL Monday Night Football: Buffalo at Miami ,” ABC, 13.4, 13.0 million homes.

11. (8) “X-Files,” Fox, 13.2, 12.8 million homes.

12. (6) “Home Improvement,” ABC, 13.1, 12.7 million homes.

13. (11) “Frasier,” NBC, 12.2, 11.8 million homes.

14. (20) “Dateline NBC-Monday,” NBC, 12.0, 11.6 million homes.

15. (17) “20/20,” ABC, 11.9, 11.5 million homes.

16. (16) “Drew Carey Show,” ABC, 11.8, 11.4 million homes.

17. (13) “Dateline NBC-Tuesday,” NBC, 11.7, 11.3 million homes.

18. (X) “Spin City,” ABC, 11.5, 11.2 million homes.

19. (26) “Law and Order,” NBC, 11.1, 10.8 million homes.

19. (20) “NFL Monday Showcase,” ABC, 11.1, 10.8 million homes.

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