Orange Bowl Helps NBC to Ratings Race Victory

NBC won the battle of the bowl games and the ratings race, CBS made an end run around football and came in No. 2, while ABC found the Sugar Bowl a bitter ratings disappointment, it was reported Tuesday.

CBS News also broke ABC’s 13-week winning streak, with Dan Rather beating out Peter Jennings by a tenth of a rating point.

On New Year’s Day, a Monday, NBC preempted its usual movie to bring viewers the Orange Bowl, Colorado vs. Notre Dame. The game wound up in a tie for 13th place, allowing NBC to edge out CBS for the night.

Compare that to ABC’s Sugar Bowl, Miami vs. Alabama, which ranked 76th on a list of 84 shows and gave ABC single-digit ratings for the night.

CBS, meanwhile, appealed to the football-phobes with its regular schedule of comedies, except for “The Famous Teddy Z,” which was preempted for a special one-hour “Designing Women,” on which Charlene had her baby, making Monday even more female-oriented than usual.

The strategy worked, and CBS had its highest-rated Monday night of the season, just two-tenths of a rating point below NBC.

“Designing Women” came in 10th for the week, winning its time period against the Orange Bowl. (The live game wasn’t a head-to-head competition on the West Coast.) “Murphy Brown” (18th place), “Newhart” (tied for 23rd), “Major Dad” (27th) and “Doctor, Doctor” (33rd) had their highest ratings and came in solid No. 2 in their time periods, just a tad below the Orange Bowl.

Monday night will be up for grabs now in the ratings race, with ABC’s top-rated AFL football season at an end. The ratings next week will show how ABC’s “Rock Hudson” bio-pic fared against CBS comedies and the second installment of NBC’s “Drug Wars: The Camarena Story.”

TOP 10 SHOWS

The top 10 programs for the week ending Jan. 7, according to the A.C. Nielsen Co., were:

1. (tie) The Cosby Show (NBC)

Cheers (NBC)

3. Roseanne (ABC)

4. Golden Girls (NBC)

5. 60 Minutes (CBS)

6. Different World (NBC)

7. Murder, She Wrote (CBS)

8. (tie) Empty Nest (NBC)

Wonder Years (ABC)

10. Designing Women (CBS)