NFC Match Boosts CBS to Second Place

CBS came in second in the weekly ratings for the fourth time in the last five weeks thanks to football--CBS had it and ABC did not--it was reported today.

NBC was No. 1 as usual, the 81st time in the last 82 weeks.

The top-rated show of the week was the one-hour overrun into prime time of the NFC championship, pitting the Los Angeles Rams against the San Francisco 49ers; and the postgame analysis tied for eighth. CBS had to preempt “Murder, She Wrote” but still won the night with its highest Sunday ratings of the season.

The CBS Sunday movie, “Pair of Aces,” was the network’s third-highest-rated Sunday movie of the season and tied for 19th place with the NBC Sunday movie, “Without Her Consent,” which was that network’s best-performing Sunday film this season. ABC’s “Jury Duty: The Comedy” was in 56th place.

CBS won Monday night with its usual stream of comedies, including the “Newhart” episode devoted to Stephanie’s baby, which tied with “Designing Women,” another CBS Monday comedy, and NBC’s “Hunter” for 14th place. It was “Newhart’s” best showing of the season.

With ABC’s NFL Monday football finished for the season, the network filled the football time slot with “Rock Hudson,” a bio-pic which tied for 30th. The competition on NBC was the second installment of the three-part “Drug Wars: The Camarena Story,” which was 34th.

“Drug Wars” in its three nights averaged a 15.3 rating and a 23 share; it was not outstanding, but it was the second-highest rating for a miniseries this season, topped only by ABC’s “Small Sacrifices.”

“The Simpsons,” the outrageous new adult cartoon show on Fox, ranked 48th in its series debut, with a 12.7 rating and a 19 share--three share points below “The Simpsons” Christmas special.

In the evening news ratings, ABC’s “World News Tonight” with Peter Jennings was back in first place with an 11.9 rating and a 21 share. “NBC Nightly News” with Tom Brokaw took second place with a 10.9 rating and a 19 share. “CBS Evening News” with Dan Rather dropped from first to third place with a 10.8 rating and a 21 share, only a tenth of a ratings point behind NBC.

NBC won the ratings race for the week ending Jan. 14, according to the A. C. Nielsen Co., with a 15.4 rating and a 25 share. CBS took second place with a 13.4 rating and a 21 share, while ABC was third with a 13.2 rating and a 21 share.

TOP 10 SHOWS Here are the ratings for national prime-time television last week, as compiled by the A. C. Nielsen Co. Each rating point is said by Nielsen to represent 921,000 homes, or 1% of the 92.1 million U.S. households that have TVs.

1. NFC Football (Sun.) CBS 27.3

2. Roseanne ABC 26.4

3. The Cosby Show NBC 23.3

4. Cheers NBC 22.2

5. A Different World NBC 21.4

6. The Golden Girls NBC 21.2

7. 60 Minutes CBS 20.4

8. Empty Nest NBC 19.8

9. NFC Postgame CBS 19.8

10. Dear John NBC 19.3