CBS Takes a Sunday Stroll to Weekly Win

Relying on the strength of its Sunday lineup, CBS topped NBC in the weekly ratings for the third time in five weeks, while the overall picture remains bleak for the major networks based on results issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

CBS edged NBC for the week thanks to “60 Minutes,” which continues its hot summer run, and the Sunday movie repeat “The Bachelor’s Baby,” starring Scott Bakula. The network also received a boost from “48 Hours,” as newsmagazines again accounted for half of the week’s Top 10 telecasts, including “Dateline NBC” finishing both second and fourth.

Combined viewing of the major networks has nonetheless sunk to historic lows this summer, with last week’s tally representing a steep 9% drop compared to the corresponding period a year ago. Only Fox--buoyed by its telecast of the movie “Speed”--was able to match its 1997 total.

The networks have started positioning series in new time periods in advance of the new TV season that begins in September, thus far with mixed results. “Spin City” looked a bit shaky last week at 9 p.m. Tuesday, but fellow ABC sitcom “Dharma & Greg” ranked first in its new 8 p.m. Wednesday slot.

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Cable Top 10

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

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Program Network Viewers 1. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) USA 5.45 2. Wrestling (Mon., 8 p.m.) TNT 5.06 3. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) TNT 4.50 4. Wrestling (Mon., 8:57 p.m.) USA 4.50 5. “Change of Heart” LIFE 4.37 6. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) TNT 4.35 7. “Batman & Robin” HBO 3.49 8. “Scarred City” HBO 3.36 9. Diagnosis Murder FAM 3.32 10. “The Golden Child” TNT 3.29

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Network Averages

Here is the number of viewers that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season.

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Last week Season to date CBS 8.82 million 13.01 NBC 8.80 13.98 ABC 7.54 11.31 FOX 6.94 9.73 WB 3.41 4.22 UPN 2.18 3.69

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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.

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Program Station Households 1. Dateline NBC (Tue.) KNBC 686,265 2. Seinfeld KNBC 656,209 3. Suddenly Susan KNBC 636,172 4. 60 Minutes KCBS 631,163 5. Just Shoot Me KNBC 591,089 6. Frasier KNBC 566,043 7. Friends KNBC 556,025 8. “Speed” KTTV 535,988 9. Ally McBeal KTTV 520,960 10. ER KNBC 505,932

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