CBS Wins 1st Week of New TV Season

CBS won the first week of the 1990-91 television season, the first time the network has been tops for premiere week since 1984, it was reported today.

It was the first time since the week ending Jan. 25, 1987, that CBS won a week during the season.

CBS’ top-rated new show was “The Trials of Rosie O’Neill,” in 28th place, and its winning Sunday movie was “Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean.”

Comedy remains king for the new season--nine of the top 11 shows are sitcoms.

The CBS win was not exactly a landslide, with only 0.4 rating points separating No. 1 from No. 3, making it the closest premiere week since the start of the 1966-67 season. The one-two spots on the Nielsen list went to NBC’s “Cheers” and ABC’s “Roseanne.”

In ratings for the week ending Sunday, compiled by the A. C. Nielsen Co., CBS won with a 13.6 rating and a 23 share. NBC was second with a 13.4 rating and a 23 share, edging out ABC, which posted a 13.2 rating and a 22 share.

Each ratings point represents about 921,000 households. A share is the percentage of TV sets in use that are tuned to a particular show or network.

THE TOP 10

Top programs for the week ending Sunday, according to the A.C. Nielsen Co.:

1. Cheers (NBC)

2. Roseanne (ABC)

3. (tie) 60 Minutes (CBS)

Designing Women (CBS)

5. The Cosby Show (NBC)

6. Murphy Brown (CBS)

7. Golden Girls (NBC)

8. A Different World (NBC)

9. Empty Nest (NBC)

10. (tie) Major Dad (CBS)

Unsolved Mysteries (NBC)