TV RATINGS

This week’s Nielsen ratings (for all shows through Aug. 9) finds the usual suspects--NBC sitcoms--perched in their usual top four spots, with a repeat NBC TV movie--”Beverly Hills Madam”--taking the fifth. The general ratings depression for beleaguered CBS is reflected in its highest-rated show--”60 Minutes”--placing 15th. (ABC’s TV movie “My Mother’s Secret Life” placed eighth, for that network’s highest ranking.) Weekly network numbers: NBC, 12.8 rating/25 audience share; ABC, 9.6/19; and CBS, 9.5/18. The complete Nielsens list appears on Page 12. (One ratings point equals 874,000 homes; audience share refers to percentage of sets tuned to a program.)

* The usual summer rerun doldrums have hit CBS shows harder than any other, even critically acclaimed and generally popular series like “The Equalizer.” But when news spread last week that “Equalizer” star Edward Woodward had suffered a heart attack, viewer interest in the program leaped. The show, 44th in the ratings ending the week of Aug. 2, jumped up 22 places after news of Woodward’s setback became public. (Latest report from his London hospital is that Woodward will be fine--so long as he stops smoking--and will return to work on the CBS series within a couple of months.)

SHOW POINTS SHARE WEEK 1. The Cosby Show (rerun) 19.9 40 8/9 (NBC) 21.4 43 8/2 2. Family Ties (rerun) 19.5 37 8/9 (NBC) 20.9 40 8/2 3. Cheers (rerun) 18.0 33 8/9 (NBC) 17.9 32 8/2 4. Golden Girls (rerun) 16.2 33 8/9 (NBC) 14.1 29 8/2 5. “Beverly Hills Madam” 15.4 27 8/9 (NBC) (movie, rerun) 12.5 23 8/2 * The Equalizer (rerun) 12.7 24 8/9 (CBS) 9.1 17 8/2