Nbc Dominates Weekly Nielsen Ratings

Music and car crashes proved dependable lures for television viewers in a week that saw NBC solidify its hold on the top spot in the ratings.

ABC’s broadcast of the American Music Awards was the ninth most-watched program last week and the most popular special, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday.

Fox’s Sunday night broadcast of “World’s Scariest Police Chases” finished in 18th place for the week, the network’s second most watched program after “The X-Files.”

Those strong showings were not enough to offset NBC’s dominance. The network won the week with an 11.0 rating and a 16 share. ABC and CBS finished tied for second with 9.6 ratings and 16 shares, and Fox was fourth with an 8 rating and 13 share.

“ER” was the week’s most popular show, logging a 23 rating and 38 share. NBC’s four other Thursday night prime-time shows were the next four in the ratings.

“NBC Nightly News” won the evening news race with 13.1 million viewers; the network has won or tied for first eight out of the past nine weeks.

ABC’s “World News Tonight had 12.3 million viewers. The “CBS Evening News” finished third with 11.7 million viewers, despite Dan Rather getting the first interview with Bill Cosby since his son’s slaying,

Prime-time ratings as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Jan. 27 - Feb. 2. Top 20 listings include the week’s ranking, with rating for the week, season-to-date rankings in parentheses, and total homes.

An “X” in parentheses denotes one-time-only presentation. A rating measures the percentage of the nation’s 97.0 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 970,000 households.

1. (1) “ER,” NBC, 23.0, 22.3 million homes

2. (2) “Seinfeld,” NBC, 22.0, 21.3 million homes

3. (5) “Friends,” NBC, 18.9, 18.3 million homes

4. (3) “Naked Truth,” NBC, 17.4, 16.9 million homes

5. (7) “Single Guy,” NBC, 16.3, 15.8 million homes

6. (8) “Home Improvement,” ABC, 15.4, 14.9 million homes

7. (10) “Touched by an Angel,” CBS, 14.3, 13.9 million homes

8. (11) “20/20,” ABC, 13.9, 13.5 million homes

9. (X) “American Music Awards,” ABC, 13.2, 12.8 million homes

10. (9) “60 Minutes,” CBS, 13.1, 12.7 million homes

10. (13) “Spin City,” ABC, 13.1, 12.7 million homes

12. (15) “Dateline NBC,” (Tuesday) NBC, 13.0, 12.6 million homes

12. (12) “NYPD Blue,” ABC, 13.0, 12.6 million homes

12. (18) “X-Files,” Fox, 13.0, 12.6 million homes

15. (15) “Drew Carey Show,” ABC, 12.8, 12.4 million homes

16. (20) “CBS Sunday Movie: Family of Cops II,” CBS, 12.1, 11.7 million homes

16. (27) “NBC Sunday Night Movie: The Client,” NBC, 12.1, 11.7 million homes

18. (X) “World’s Scariest Police Chases,” 11.5, 11.2 million homes

19. (20) “3rd Rock From the Sun,” NBC, 11.3, 11.0 million homes

20. (20) “Walker, Texas Ranger,” CBS, 11.2, 10.9 million homes