Nbc’s ‘Seinfeld’ Leads Network To The Top Of Weekly Nielsen Ratings

“Seinfeld” led four other shows from NBC’s powerhouse Thursday lineup into the Top 10, giving the network its fifth consecutive week atop the prime-time ratings, according to figures released Tuesday.

For the week of March 13-19, NBC earned an 11.5 average rating and a 19 percent share of the audience. ABC, still the front-runner for the season to date, was second with an 11.1 rating, 19 share.

CBS was third with a 9.2 rating, 16 share, Nielsen ratings showed.

Fox Broadcasting Co., which programs only 15 of the 22 prime-time hours, had a 7.6 rating, 13 share.

“Seinfeld” was first for the week, NBC’s “ER” and “Friends” tied for third place, and “Mad About You” was eighth. NBC’s “Hope & Gloria,” TV’s hottest midseason show, was ninth.

Among the evening newscasts, ABC’s “World News Tonight” won with a 9.7 rating, 20 share; “NBC Nightly News” was second with an 8.3 rating, 17 share; and “CBS Evening News” was third with a 7.4 rating, 16 share, which included West Coast preemptions for NCAA basketball games Thursday and Friday.

CBS’ sole midseason premiere for the week was “Under One Roof,” a one-hour family drama starring Joe Morton, James Earl Jones and Vanessa Bell Calloway. It debuted in 51st place.

The Fox network’s midseason premiere, the hospital drama “Medicine Ball,” was in 83rd place, but well ahead of all other emerging network series except UPN’s downtrending “Star Trek: Voyager,” 79th for the week.

Fox’s “documentary” series, “Encounters” debuted in 93rd place.

Here are the top 10 listings, including the week’s ranking, rating for the week, seasonto-date rankings in parentheses and total homes.

A rating measures the percentage of the nation’s 95.4 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 954,000 households.

1. (1) “Seinfeld,” NBC, 21.4, 20.4 million homes.

2. (2) “Home Improvement,” ABC, 20.5, 19.6 million homes.

3. (3) “E.R.,” NBC, 19.8, 18.9 million homes.

3. (11) “Friends,” NBC, 19.8, 18.9 million homes.

5. (4) “Grace Under Fire,” ABC, 19.6, 18.7 million homes.

6. (7) “NYPD Blue,” ABC, 16.9, 16.1 million homes.

6. (5) “60 minutes,” CBS, 16.9, 16.1 million homes.

8. (12) “Mad About You,” NBC, 15.3, 14.6 million homes.

9. (10) “Hope & Gloria,” NBC, 14.9, 14.2 million homes.

10. (16) “Murphy Brown,” CBS, 14.8, 14.1 million homes.