Wb Makes New Inroads Into Television Audience

Thu., March 12, 1998

Associated Press

The fledgling WB, beginning to establish itself in its survival struggle with UPN, scored the highest prime-time ratings in its three-year history last week.

NBC was the week’s winner in Nielsen Media Research’s prime-time rankings released Tuesday. Magic helped Fox, and ABC continued its slump.

The Warner Bros. network has, in an average week, less than a third of the viewers who are tuned in to top-ranked NBC. Yet its strategy of trying to be hip among young viewers is starting to pay off.

Only once before has the WB matched the 3.7 rating and 6 share that it had last week, and that was in January, when its entertainment schedule ran against President Clinton’s State of the Union address on the other networks.

For the week, NBC had a 10.0 rating and 16 share, with CBS second at a 9.0 rating and 15 share. ABC’s 8.1 rating and 13 share narrowly beat Fox’s 7.9 and 13, but Fox had more viewers on average. UPN had a 3.0 rating and 5 share.

NBC was led by its Thursday night lineup and a special guest appearance by Bebe Neuwirth.

Back-to-back specials of magicians revealing the secrets behind the tricks were big sellers for Fox, with one landing among the week’s top 10 shows. Fox’s “Ally McBeal” also scored its highest ratings ever.

Prime-time ratings as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for March 2-8. 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. The rating is the percentage of the nation’s estimated 98 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 980,000 households.

1. (1) “ER,” NBC, 21.4, 20.9 million homes.

2. (2) “Seinfeld,” NBC, l8.8, 18.4 million homes.

3. (3) “Veronica’s Closet,” NBC, 16.5, 16.1 million homes.

4. (4) “Friends,” NBC, 14.9, 14.6 million homes.

5. (20) “Just Shoot Me,” NBC, 14.7, 14.4 million homes.

6. (6) “Touched By an Angel,” CBS, 14.5, 14.2 million homes.

7. (11) “Frasier,” NBC, 13.4, 13.1 million homes.

7. (7) “60 Minutes,” CBS, 13.4, 13.1 million homes.

9. (8) “CBS Sunday Movie: To Live Again,” CBS, 13.3, 13.0 million homes.

10. (12) “Dateline NBC-Tuesday,” NBC, 12.0, 11.7 million homes.

10. (X) “Magic’s Biggest Secrets Revealed,” Fox, 12.0, 11.7 million homes.

10. (12) “The X-Files,” Fox, 12.0, 11.7 million homes.

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