NBC Breaks Weekly Ratings Record Set in ’63

The farewell episode of “Family Ties” crushed the “Moonlighting” finale and the rest of its competitors Sunday, finishing its seven-year run as last week’s top-rated show and propelling NBC to a record-breaking 47th consecutive victory in the weekly prime-time ratings.

NBC’s unprecedented streak was marred slightly last February when CBS managed to tie the peacock network for weekly honors on the strength of its eight-hour miniseries “Lonesome Dove.” But aside from that, the network of “The Cosby Show,” “The Golden Girls” and “Cheers” has totally dominated ABC and CBS in this, its fourth straight season as the country’s most-watched network.

NBC has not lost a week outright since CBS carried the NBA finals between the Lakers and the Detroit Pistons last June, and NBC researchers say it is unlikely to lose another one until CBS again broadcasts the basketball championship games next month.

The previous record of 46 consecutive prime-time wins was set by CBS in the 1962-63 season with a lineup that included “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “The Beverly Hillbillies,” “Perry Mason,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “Gunsmoke.” Some analysts have argued that NBC’s dominance makes it increasingly difficult for CBS and ABC to climb out of the cellar, and that, at a time when the networks are losing viewers to cable, independent stations and VCRs, such a winning streak is ultimately unhealthy for network television. But others see NBC’s dynasty as nothing but encouraging.

“It’s the most positive thing that could possibly happen,” John Sisk, senior vice president of J. Walter Thompson ad agency in New York, said Tuesday. “It says that if you find the right shows, the public will watch your network. If all the networks were down, then you’d have a problem. But this says that if you’ve got the guts and creativity, you can do it. There’s still room for another Secretariat.”

Sisk said the network television business is cyclical--both CBS and ABC have had long-running ratings dynasties in the past--and he would not be surprised if one of those networks overtook NBC within the next few years.

“It really doesn’t mean anything to advertisers,” said Mel Conner, senior vice president of the Saatchi & Saatchi DFS advertising agency. “If one of the networks were to go out of business because (of the streak,) that would be significant. But I don’t think we’re anywhere near that. The one thing that it might do is bring about more innovation in programming at the other two networks.”

NBC completely wiped out the other two networks in its record-breaking week, finishing with the 11 top-rated shows and 13 of the top 15.

NBC’s top-11 sweep was accomplished in a week when ABC’s top-rated “Roseanne” was preempted by “War and Remembrance.” All four concluding episodes of the longest and most expensive miniseries in television history placed in the top 30 last week, with Sunday’s finale ending up a respectable 18th with a 15.9 rating and a 26% share of the available audience. But numbers for each episode of the critically acclaimed World War II drama were well below the approximate 18 rating that ABC had promised advertisers the programs would deliver.

“Family Ties” went off the air with a bang, outdistancing every other program last week with an audience of 18.8 million households. “Murder, She Wrote,” usually a top 10 show for CBS, finished well behind in 24th place, while the concluding episode of the once-highly rated “Moonlighting” finished a dismal 70th out of 77 programs for the week, even trailing its competition on Fox.