NBC Squeezes Past the Competition

NBC’s peacock reclaimed its perch atop the ratings heap last week, but just barely, as both CBS and Fox had plenty to crow about based on results issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

CBS benefited Sunday from “60 Minutes’ ” highest rating in nearly a year and record numbers for “Touched by an Angel,” which “60 Minutes” profiled in the preceding hour.

Fox, meanwhile, posted a record rating for its Wednesday drama “Party of Five,” starring Matthew Fox, held its own Sunday behind “King of the Hill” and “The X-Files,” and actually won Tuesday with the specials “World’s Scariest Police Chases” and “World’s Deadliest Swarms.”

NBC’s first-place finish came despite poor ratings for the new drama “Sleepwalkers” (which the network has already yanked) and the drubbing its second-year sitcom “Men Behaving Badly” continues to take Sundays.

CBS received another lift Friday night from a “Candid Camera” special, which dropped new dramas “The Visitor” and “Players” to season-low ratings in the same time slot. ABC’s highlights were few, though Friday’s edition of “20/20”--featuring an interview with sportscaster Marv Albert--said “Yes!” to that program’s biggest audience this season.

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Network Averages

Here is the number of viewers that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season.

Last Week

NBC: 14.72 million

CBS: 14.65

ABC: 12.85

FOX: 12.60

UPN: 4.65

WB: 4.43

Season to Date

NBC: 15.89 million

CBS: 13.66

ABC: 13.26

FOX: 10.63

UPN: 4.65

WB: 4.20

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Southland Viewing

Here are Nielsen’s Top 10 prime-time programs in the Los Angeles area during the same week. The rankings are based on the number of households watching.

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Program Station Households 1. Seinfeld KNBC 1,117,058 2. ER KNBC 1,026,892 3. Friends KNBC 1,016,874 4. The X-Files KTTV 966,781 5. 60 Minutes KCBS 881,624 6. Touched by an Angel KCBS 846,560 7. Veronica’s Closet KNBC 771,421 8. NYPD Blue KABC 726,338 9. Frasier KNBC 691,274 -- Union Square KNBC 691,274

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Source: Nielsen Media Research.