TV RATINGS : Quake Puts NBC Back on Top

With the World Series on ABC postponed by the Bay Area earthquake, NBC moved back into first place in the prime-time ratings last week, with seven of the 10 most-watched programs. According to figures released Tuesday by the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average audience for NBC’s prime-time shows was 12.9 million homes, compared to 11.6 million for CBS and 11.1 million for ABC. The full list of ratings is on F12.

* Despite its unsettling subject of child abuse--or maybe because of it--the CBS TV movie “Do You Know the Muffin Man?” scored a big win Sunday over ABC’s broadcast of the Paul Newman-Tom Cruise film “The Color of Money.” “Muffin Man” had an audience of 16.9 million homes while “Money” drew 10.8 million.

Show Points Share 1.”Cheers” 24.7 38 NBC 2.”The Cosby Show” 24.6 40 NBC 3.”A Different World” 22.5 36 NBC 4.”Golden Girls” 20.6 37 NBC 5.”60 Minutes” 20.4 36 CBS 5.”Dear John” 20.4 32 NBC *”Do You Know the Muffin Man?” 18.4 30 CBS