TV Ratings : News Magazines Power CBS to Top

CBS’ three news magazines--”60 Minutes,” “48 Hours” and “Street Stories”--placed in the Top 15 in last week’s prime-time ratings as the network captured the weekly network battle. Figures released Tuesday by the A. C. Nielsen Co. showed that ABC’s two news magazines--”20/20” and “PrimeTime Live”--also finished in the Top 15. Only “Dateline NBC” failed to have an excellent outing, placing 41st among the week’s 96 programs. NBC nevertheless finished second for the week, averaging an 8.2 rating, compared to 9.9 for CBS, 8 for ABC and 6.7 for Fox.

* “Melrose Place,” the Fox spinoff from “Beverly Hills, 90210,” got off to a strong start last Wednesday. It ranked No. 19 for the week and did even better in Los Angeles, finishing No. 2 behind “Roseanne.” ABC fared less well with some of its first-run programming: “In a New Light” on Saturday was No. 86, “Jim Thorpe Pro Sports Awards” on Monday was No. 76, and “All Star Fiesta at Ford’s Theatre” on Saturday was No. 84. CBS’ “Howie” ranked No. 72 in its second outing.

Points Share 1. “Roseanne” (ABC) 16.1 29 2. “60 Minutes” (CBS) 15.0 32 3. “Home Improvement” (ABC) 14.8 28 4. “48 Hours” (CBS) 14.4 27 5. “Coach” (ABC) 13.4 24 * “Melrose Place” (Fox) 10.3 19

(Each rating point represents 921,000 homes. Share is the percentage of viewing audience.)