NBC Bloodied But Not Bowed

How strong is the NBC prime-time schedule? So strong that even when the Thanksgiving holiday cut into its best-viewed night of the week, even when it placed only two shows in the Top 10--compared to six for ABC--the network still finished first. Ratings released Tuesday by the A. C. Nielsen Co. showed NBC’s lineup drawing an average audience of 12.7 million homes last week, compared to 11.9 million for ABC and 11.3 million for CBS. ABC’s “Coach,” meanwhile, dropped 25% of the audience from its lead-in, “Roseanne,” compared to the 33% that its predecessor, “Chicken Soup,” had been losing. ABC got better results in the competition among network newscasts, where its “World News Tonight” finished first for the eighth week in a row. The full list of ratings is on F11.

* A guaranteed sequel: That’s what the ratings for “America’s Funniest Home Videos” mean. The ABC special Sunday night was seen in about 16.3 million homes--the 10th-largest audience among the week’s 84 prime-time shows.

TV RATINGS

Show Points Share 1. “Roseanne” (ABC) 23.6 35 2. “The Wonder Years” (ABC) 21.8 33 3. “60 Minutes” (CBS) 21.5 33 4. “Who’s the Boss?” (ABC) 20.5 32 5. “The Golden Girls” (NBC) 20.4 34 * “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (ABC) 17.7 25