Viewers Still Love Lucy, Ratings Show
Television viewers continue to show how much they love Lucy.
The 39-year-old pilot for what became CBS’ classic “I Love Lucy” series got higher ratings than the combined ratings of two new shows opposing it, preliminary audience estimates showed today. Hosted by Lucie Arnaz, daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, the one-hour CBS special, “I Love Lucy: The Very First Show,” averaged a 21.7 rating and a 37% share of the audience in 24 cities Monday night.
That easily outpaced the 9.6 rating and 16% audience share of NBC’s “Shannon’s Deal” and the 6.3 rating and 11% audience share of ABC’s “Capital News” in the same time period.
Monday’s CBS special was the premiere of the 34-minute “I Love Lucy” pilot, made on kinescope March 10, 1951, when Ball, who died last year, was five months pregnant with her daughter. The pilot, produced by Ball and her husband with $5,000 of their own money, was never broadcast until Monday.
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