CBS Pulls Even With ABC for No. 2 Spot

For the 36th week in a row, NBC finished first in the A.C. Nielsen ratings, but the big news in the figures released Tuesday was that CBS has caught up with ABC in the race for second. Thanks to strong showings by “60 Minutes,” “Murder, She Wrote” and its Sunday-night TV movie, “Naked Lie,” CBS outpaced ABC for the week and climbed into a tie in the season-to-date ratings. Since late October, NBC has averaged a 15.8 rating in prime time while its rivals have averaged a 12.9. Each point represents 904,000 homes.

* For the sixth time in the past eight years, the recording industry’s Grammy Awards drew a smaller audience than the TV-spawned American Music Awards. The Grammys not only attracted about 4 1/2 million fewer households than the American Music Awards did on Jan. 30, but also were down 25% from the 1988 Grammy show. The full list of ratings is on Page 8.

TV RATINGS

Show Points Share 1. “The Cosby Show” 27.2 42 NBC 2. “A Different World” 24.9 38 NBC 3. “Roseanne” 24.2 35 ABC 4. “60 Minutes” 23.8 38 CBS 5. “Cheers” 23.3 35 NBC * Grammy Awards 16.0 26 CBS