‘Rose Red’ Is Sweet for ABC

The Stephen King miniseries “Rose Red” overcame mostly negative reviews to scare up plenty of viewers for ABC on Sunday, based on viewing estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

King’s haunted house tale surpassed the opening-night ratings of his last two ABC productions, “Storm of the Century” and “The Shining.” Viewing dipped by a little more than 1 million viewers Monday (a number that will be reflected in next week’s standings), with the concluding episode to play Thursday. On another front, ABC drew just mediocre ratings with “Dr. No,” the first in its weekly Saturday showcase of James Bond movies.

Fox’s sitcom spinoff “That ’80s Show” got off to a strong start in its premiere last Wednesday, playing opposite an NBC News special exploring the White House, which also fared well.

“Friends,” meanwhile, remains red-hot, topping last week’s standings with a rerun episode and registering its highest repeat rating among young adults in nearly three years. The series has seen its numbers climb since “Survivor: Africa” ended. NBC edged CBS in terms of overall viewing for the week, its first victory since October.

Brian Lowry

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National Nielsen Viewership

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