No Stunts Necessary to Put NBC on Top in November Sweeps

In a November sweeps period where special episodes of regular series supplanted expensive, long-form miniseries as the way to attract viewers, top-ranked NBC scored an unsurprising win.

Outranking the other networks during the crucial period when stations measure their ratings for advertisers, NBC came in first, ABC second and CBS third in the fall sweeps.

“Our win was based on our regular schedule, with little ‘stunting’ or preemptions,” Robert Niles, NBC vice president of research, noted at a news conference here. “With the performance of our regular series, multiple-part miniseries have to pass a hurdle with us.”

For the four-week period, NBC averaged a 15.1 rating and a 25 share of the audience, while ABC posted a 13 rating and a 21 share, and CBS had a 12 rating and a 20 share. A Nielsen rating point represents 921,000 households.

There were no multiple-part miniseries and only three two-parters broadcast during the November ratings period. ABC’s docudrama “Small Sacrifices” was the big hit among the miniseries, with a 21.7 rating and a 34 share of the audience. NBC’s “Cross of Fire” had a 13.6 rating and 22 share. CBS’ “Till We Meet Again” had a 12.9 rating and a 20 share.

Overall viewing levels were off slightly from the November sweeps a year ago, but the networks’ combined share of the prime-time audience remained at 66%. “While there is network erosion, it tends to come off shows at the bottom of the ratings,” Niles said.