‘Cosby’ Edges ‘Simpsons’ Across U.S. : Television: The NBC sitcom ekes out a victory over the Fox entry in the national ratings.

NEW YORK — “The Simpsons” finally went head-to-head with original programming against “The Cosby Show,” and “Cosby” came out a winner--just barely, it was reported today.

“The Cosby Show” slipped from No. 2 the previous week to seventh place in the national Nielsen ratings, with “The Simpsons” tied for eighth. The numbers show how close it really was: an 18.5 rating and a 29 share for “Cosby” and an 18.4 rating and a 29 share for “The Simpsons.”

“The Simpsons” had registered a narrow victory in the overnight ratings--based on only 24 cities--that were released last week.

NBC’s strategy of targeting women during the baseball season paid off. “Jackie Collins’ Lucky/Chances,” Part 3, came in fourth for the week, while Part 2 tied for 15th.

CBS expressed satisfaction with the ratings performance of the major-league playoff games, despite its third-place finish for the week. The network said the six prime-time playoff games--three last week, three the previous week--improved the CBS ratings performance by 9% compared to the regular programming it replaced.

In the ratings for the week ending Sunday, according to the A. C. Nielsen Co., NBC won with a 13.7 rating and a 23 share. ABC was second with a 13.2 rating and a 22 share, while CBS posted a 12.0 rating and a 20 share.

Each ratings point represents about 921,000 households. A share is the percentage of TV sets in use that are tuned to a particular show or network.

THE TOP 10

The top programs for the week ending Sunday, according to A.C. Nielsen Co.:

1. Cheers (NBC)

2. Roseanne (ABC)

3. A Different World (NBC)

4. Lucky/Chances, Part 3 (NBC)

5. Funniest Home Videos (ABC)

6. 60 Minutes (CBS)

7. The Cosby Show (NBC)

8. (tie) Who’s The Boss? (ABC)

The Simpsons (Fox)

10. (tie) Empty Nest (NBC)

Head of the Class (ABC)