‘Kane’ Slays the Opposition

CBS’ “Kane & Abel” won the battle of the TV dramas Sunday night, with NBC’s “Hostage Flight” finishing a close second and ABC’s “The Execution of Raymond Graham” running a distant third, ratings from the A.C. Nielsen Co. showed Tuesday.

But the most-watched TV movie of the week was “An Early Frost,” NBC’s two-hour story about a family coping with its son having AIDS. It was seen in about 20 million homes and ranked No. 6 for the week.

The first installment of “Kane & Abel,” CBS’ three-part miniseries about two feuding business tycoons, attracted an audience of about 19.9 million homes and was the eighth most-watched program of the week.

NBC’s “Hostage Flight,” which aired opposite the final two hours of “Kane & Abel” on Sunday, was seen in about 18.4 million homes. “The Execution of Raymond Graham,” which was broadcast live on ABC in most parts of the country, drew half that audience--about 9.2 million homes.

The most watched program of the week, as it has been for most of 1985, was “The Cosby Show” on NBC. The family comedy was seen in about 27.2 million households.

With six of the Top 10 shows, NBC handily won the weekly sweepstakes over its rival networks and continues to lead in the season-to-date averages. NBC, which has never finished first for a prime-time season, currently has a 17.9 rating, compared to 16.9 for CBS and 16.5 for ABC.

Executives at both NBC and CBS are still predicting a close finish for this season, with midseason replacements deemed crucial in determining the final outcome. CBS has won the prime-time race for six years in a row.

ABC, struggling to get out of third place, saw one of its midseason changes encounter a disastrous introduction last week. The two-hour premiere of “Shadow Chasers” on Thursday night attracted only 10% of the available audience and finished 67th among the week’s 68 shows. Only ABC’s “Our Family Honor” fared worse.