X-Files’ Premiere Gives Fox a Sweeps Boost

“The X-Files” unearthed immediate dividends for Fox with its return Sunday, even against high-profile sweeps programming--CBS’ “Mama Flora’s Family” and the “Law & Order” movie “Exiled”--that dropped ABC’s “The Practice” to a season-low rating, based on results issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

CBS’ “Mama Flora,” “Touched by an Angel” and “60 Minutes” topped Sunday’s ratings overall, but “The X-Files”--despite a steep 26% audience drop compared to last year’s premiere--helped breathe some life into Fox’s other Sunday series, which all hit season highs, putting the network just behind NBC for the week in the young-adult demographics advertisers covet. Fox received another lift Thursday from its latest entry in low-brow specials, “Shocking Moments: Caught on Tape.”

“Becker,” CBS’ new Ted Danson series, did much better than predecessor “The Brian Benben Show” in retaining viewers from its lead-in, “Everybody Loves Raymond.” ABC’s Friday “TGIF” shows “Boy Meets World” and “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” also scored their highest ratings since early 1997.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Cable Top 10

Here are Nielsen’s top 10 cable programs in prime time last week, also ranked by total viewers (in millions).

*--*

Program Network Viewers 1. Pro Football (Sun.) ESPN 7.69 2. Wrestling (Mon., 8 p.m. TNT 5.72 3. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) USA 5.46 4. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) USA 5.17 5. “L.A. Confidential” HBO 4.80 6. Wrestling (Sun., 7 p.m.) USA 4.55 7. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) TNT 4.41 8. NFL Primetime ESPN 4.31 9. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) TNT 4.21 10. Wrestling (Thur., 8:05 p.m.) TBS 4.05

*--*

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 Season to date NBC 13.77 million 13.15 CBS 13.38 13.07 ABC 12.18 12.17 FOX 11.50 10.91 WB 4.68 4.60 UPN 2.75 2.73

*--*

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.

*--*

Program Station Households 1. Friends KNBC 1,167,151 2. Frasier KNBC 1,061,957 3. ER KNBC 981,809 4. Jesse KNBC 961,772 5. The X-Files KTTV 866,597 6. Veronica’s Closet KNBC 826,523 7. Ally McBeal KTTV 811,495 8. “The Temptations” Part 2 KNBC 716,320 9. 20/20 (Fri.) KABC 711,311 10. Sabrina, the Teenage Witch KABC 701,292

*--*