NBC’s Early Fall Previews Score Big in Nielsens

NBC took eight of the top 10 spots in the ratings last week, with two of them going to previews of new shows for the fall season, it was reported today.

Top of the list, however, went to CBS’s “60 Minutes,” which was primarily devoted to Iraq-related segments.

It also was the first week of Fox’s bold ploy of pitting “The Simpsons” opposite “The Cosby Show” on NBC, although both shows are still in reruns and original “Simpsons” are not expected until October.

The “Cosby” rerun tied for third; the “Simpsons” rerun was in 54th place.

The “Cosby” coattails pulled the preview of “Ferris Bueller” into sixth place, the highest-ranked of the new NBC shows being presented in what the network calls its “double pump” strategy.

Right behind “Ferris” was “Parenthood” in seventh place, which did much better than its lead-in, the preview of “Hull High,” which tied for 29th.

“Parenthood” was followed on the air by “Lifestories,” which finished in 31st. The preview of “Working It Out” was unable to hold onto the lead-in audience provided by “Unsolved Mysteries.” “Mysteries” tied with “Cosby” for third, while “Working It Out” was in 32nd.

The NBC numbers crunchers found the network experienced a 12% increase in ratings for the week, compared to summer viewing from July 2 to Aug. 19.

“60 Minutes,” in first place for the second week in a row, and No. 2 for the two weeks before that, drew its audience by using two new pieces related to the Persian Gulf crisis--a report from Steve Kroft on chemical warfare and another from Morley Safer on the Soviets and the crisis. The show also aired a portion of Dan Rather’s interview with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

There also was a repeat of Mike Wallace’s report on women in military combat.

The news magazine has suffered no summer doldrums--since Memorial Day “60 Minutes” has been out of the top 10 only twice.

In the Sunday movie battle, CBS was the winner with a repeat of the TV movie “Fatal Judgment,” which tied for 21st place. ABC’s theatrical film, “From Russia With Love,” tied for 43rd, while NBC’s repeat of “I Know My First Name Is Steven,” Part 1, tied for 51st.

Even with the top-rated show of the week and the top Sunday movie, CBS could not beat ABC, whose only entry in the top 10 was “Roseanne” in 10th place.

In ratings for the week ended Aug. 26, according to the A. C. Nielsen Co., NBC remained in the lead with a 10.5 rating and a 20 share. ABC was second with a 9.4 rating and an 18 share and CBS was last with a 9.1 rating and a 17 share.

Each ratings point represents about 931,000 households. A share is the percentage of TV sets in use that are tuned to a particular show or network.

TOP 10 SHOWS

The top 10 programs for the week ending Sunday, Aug. 26, according to the A.C. Nielsen Co., were:

1. 60 Minutes (CBS)

2. Cheers (NBC)

3. The Cosby Show (NBC)

(tie) Unsolved Mysteries (NBC)

5. Empty Nest (NBC)

6. Ferris Bueller (NBC)

7. Parenthood (NBC)

8. Golden Girls (NBC)

9. Matlock (NBC)

10. Roseanne (ABC)