Thomas-Hill Hearings Help PBS Stations Garner High Ratings

NEW YORK — With the three networks opting for their regular prime-time programming Sunday night, PBS stations achieved unusually high ratings by sticking with coverage of the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings.

WNET-TV in New York captured 20% of the prime-time audience Sunday night. KCET Channel 28 in Los Angeles grabbed 18%, and KAET in Phoenix had 27%.

Meanwhile, ratings for the three broadcast networks’ evening newscasts showed a sharp increase last week from the previous week, which the networks attributed to interest in the hearings. NBC said that “Nightly News” was up 29% from the previous week, while ABC’s “World News Tonight” was up 19% and CBS’ “Evening News” was up 8%. “World News Tonight,” as usual, had the largest audience of the week, scoring a 10.7 rating, followed by NBC with an 8.4 and CBS with a 7.7 rating. Each ratings point represents 921,000 households.