ABC Moves Into Second Spot

ABC moved into sole possession of the No. 2 position in the 1990-91 network ratings derby Tuesday, thanks to a winning performance last week. Figures released by the A.C. Nielsen Co. showed ABC with four of the week’s top five programs and five more in the top 20, for an overall average rating of 13.4, compared to 11.8 for NBC and 11.3 for CBS. Each point represents 931,000 households. One-third of the way through what the networks refer to as the official, 30-week season, ABC now trails NBC by only half a ratings point, and CBS is merely one-tenth of a point behind ABC. The full list of ratings is on F9.

* They did it! They did it! “The Simpsons” beat “The Cosby Show” on Thursday night. But. . . . Put an asterisk by it. Fox served up an original episode of its wacky cartoon series, while NBC dished out a rerun of “Cosby.” The result: “The Simpsons” won the time period by three-tenths of a point over the rival Huxtable clan. Ratings for the whole night were off anyway because it was Thanksgiving. “Cheers,” for example, which ranks as the No. 1 show so far this season, finished only 12th on this occasion. Since Thursday is NBC’s strongest night of programming, the holiday definitely hurt the network’s overall showing for the week.

TV RATINGS

Show Points Share 1. “60 Minutes” (CBS) 22.5 36 2. “It” (Part 2) (ABC) 20.6 33 3. “Monday Night Football” 18.2 30 (ABC) 4. “America’s Funniest 18.1 27 People” (ABC) 5. “America’s Funniest Home 17.9 26 Videos” (ABC) * “The Simpsons” (Fox) 11.9 24