Cbs Moves Up In Weekly Ratings

NBC had seven of the Top 10 prime-time shows in the first week of 1996, but CBS clawed its way into second place with the national collegiate football championship game.

CBS climbed out of perpetual third place by half a ratings point - not as lopsided as Nebraska’s 62-24 Fiesta Bowl victory over Florida, but just as decisive - according to Nielsen Media Research data released Tuesday.

Surprisingly, CBS placed with only seven programs in the Top 30 - four of them specials - and 10 shows in the Top 50.

For the week of Jan. 1-7, CBS earned an 11.8 rating and an 18 percent share of the TV audience, while ABC polled an 11.3 rating, 18 share. Top-rated NBC had a 13.3 rating, 20 share, averaging 19.5 million prime-time viewers.

The Fox Broadcasting Co., programming only 15 of the 22 prime-time hours, had a 7.9 rating, 12 share.

Here are prime-time ratings for Jan. 1-7, with the week’s ranking, rating for the week, season-to-date rankings in parentheses, and total homes. An “X” denotes a one-time-only presentation. A rating measures the percentage of the nation’s 95.9 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 959,000 households.

1. (1) “ER,” NBC, 25.7, 24.6 million homes.

2. (2) “Seinfeld,” NBC, 23.0, 22.1 million homes.

3. (3) “Friends,” NBC, 21.0, 20.1 million homes.

4. (4) “Caroline in the City,” NBC, 19.5, 18.7 million homes.

5. (X) “Tostitos Fiesta Bowl,” CBS, 18.8, 18.0 million homes.

6. (6) “Single Guy,” NBC, 18.3, 17.6 million homes.

7. (22) “NBC Sunday Night Movie: A Killer Amongst Us,” NBC, 17.3, 16.6 million homes.

8. (X) “NFL on NBC Postgame,” NBC, 16.5, 15.8 million homes.

9. (7) “Home Improvement,” ABC, 15.6, 15.0 million homes.

10. “Mad About You,” NBC, 15.5, 14.9 million homes.

11. (10) “60 Minutes,” CBS, 14.9, 14.3 million homes.

12. (X) “Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - Pregame,” CBS, 14.5, 13.9 million homes.

13. (20) “America’s Funniest Home Videos 2,” ABC, 14.4, 13.8 million homes.

14. (11) “20/20,” ABC, 14.1, 13.5 million homes.

15. (8) “Coach,” ABC, 14.0, 13.4 million homes.

16. (11) “Grace Under Fire,” ABC, 13.8, 13.2 million homes.

16. (17) “NBC Monday Night Movies: Danielle Steel’s No Greater Love,” NBC, 13.8, 13.2 million homes.

18. (17) “PrimeTime Live,” ABC, 13.5, 12.9 million homes.

19. (26) “Law & Order,” NBC, 13.3, 12.8 million homes.

19. (X) “Murder, She Wrote,” 13.3, 12.8 million homes.

19. “NewsRadio,” NBC, 13.3, 12.8 million homes.