NBC OFF TO FAST START IN RATINGS

The new television season opened just like the last one closed: with Bill Cosby and NBC sitting pretty atop the prime-time ratings.

NBC, which won the network sweepstakes last season for the first time ever, placed six shows in the top 10 and none in the bottom 20 last week in the opening round of the 1986-87 TV season, according to figures released Tuesday by the A.C. Nielsen Co.

Its margin of victory over ABC and CBS was the biggest for a premiere week since 1980, when NBC successfully opened the season with its miniseries “Shogun.”

And to make the triumph even sweeter, the “NBC Nightly News” won its weekly competition against the “CBS Evening News” and ABC’s “World News Tonight” for the second week in a row--the first time it has put together consecutive victories in five years.

Topping the prime-time ratings were the two most popular series from last season, NBC’s comedies “The Cosby Show” and “Family Ties,” which air back-to-back on Thursdays. At the bottom of the list of 65 programs was “Our World,” the new magazine series that ABC introduced opposite them last week. (For the full list, see Page 10.)

“The Cosby Show” was seen in about 29.2 million homes, “Family Ties” in about 28 million and “Our World” in about 5.2 million.

Overall, NBC’s prime-time programs averaged an 18.6 rating and accounted for 30% of the viewing audience, while ABC registered a 15.1 rating and 25% of the viewers. CBS got a 14.9 rating and 24% of the viewers.

Each rating point is said by Nielsen to represent 874,000 homes, or 1% of the 87.4 million homes that it estimates have television sets in the United States.

NBC had reason to crow in almost every area: It had the highest-rated movie of the week (“Stranded,” which ranked sixth), the highest-rated special (“The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: 24th Anniversary,” which was 10th) and the highest-rated new series (“Amen” at No. 13 and “Matlock” at No. 14, each of which had its first telecast last week).

“We’re very encouraged and pleased by the early returns,” said William Rubens, vice president of research for NBC.

He pointed out that unlike 1980, when NBC’s big margin of victory was the result of special programming, the one this year was produced mostly with regular series, which are the key to a network’s performance over the course of a season.

That is why most analysts are betting that NBC will repeat this year as prime-time champion.

Among other series premiering last week, CBS’ “Together We Stand” placed 24th, NBC’s “ALF” was 31st, CBS’ “Kay O’Brien, Surgeon” was 45th and CBS’ “Downtown” was 50th. ABC’s comedic newcomer “Sledge Hammer!” did well in its first outing on Tuesday, placing 18th, but it fell to 59th when it turned up in its regular slot Friday against “Dallas” on CBS and “Miami Vice” on NBC.

“Sledge Hammer!” was one of 11 series that ABC had in the bottom 15--among them freshmen such as “Sidekicks” (No. 51), “Life With Lucy” (No. 57), “The Ellen Burstyn Show” (No. 61), “Starman” (No. 62) and “Heart of the City” (No. 64).

The low standing of “Life With Lucy” represented a dramatic drop in audience between the first and second outings for the comedy that marks 75-year-old Lucille Ball’s return to series television after 12 years. The initial telecast Sept. 20 won its time period and ranked 24th for the week; Saturday’s telecast dropped to third in the time slot with nearly 4 million fewer homes tuning in.

Another big loser was “George Washington: The Forging of a Nation,” CBS’ two-part drama about the nation’s first President. The first installment did not open well (slotted against the Emmy Awards), finishing 31st in the previous week’s ratings. The second episode lost about 3 million of those homes and wound up 58th last week (airing against “Monday Night Football” in much of the country).

CBS fared only slightly better with its Tuesday movie “Firefighter” and its Wednesday movie “Courage,” which finished 46th and 47th, respectively.

“We’re not very thrilled with the first week’s performance but we also don’t think this is indicative of the season,” said Arnold Becker, CBS’ vice president for research. He contended that the network will do better once all of its series have debuted.

In the battle of the network newscasts, NBC edged its rivals with a 10.9 rating, compared to 10.5 for CBS and 10.4 for ABC.

Until last June, the “CBS Evening News” had dominated that arena, winning 213 weeks in a row.