NBC Places 6 Shows in Top 10

With no Thanksgiving holiday to disrupt its Thursday night stronghold, NBC surged back into the No. 1 position last week, according to ratings released Tuesday by the A.C. Nielsen Co. “Cheers,” “A Different World” and “The Cosby Show” were among the week’s five most-watched programs, and the network had three others in the Top 10. NBC does have a problem at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, however: The audience for “Grand” was 31% lower than for the show that preceded it, “Cheers.” Nevertheless, NBC’s prime-time schedule averaged a 13.1 rating for the week (each point represents 931,000 households), compared to 12.4 for ABC and 12.3 for CBS. That bolstered NBC’s lead in the season-to-date ratings. The full list of ratings is on F12.

* Some critics called it mushy and sentimental, but “Decoration Day” proved that James Garner and the “Hallmark Hall of Fame” moniker can still attract big audiences. The TV movie on NBC Sunday night won its time slot with about 16.7 million homes tuning in, ranking seventh among the week’s 94 prime-time programs. CBS’ Sunday movie “Fatal Image” drew about 13.1 million and ABC’s “Commando” attracted about 12.4 million.

TV RATINGS

Show Points Share 1. “Cheers” (NBC) 20.4 32 2. “60 Minutes” (CBS) 19.8 32 3. “A Different World” (NBC) 18.6 29 4. “Roseanne” (ABC) 18.3 27 5. “The Cosby Show” (NBC) 18.1 28 * “Decoration Day” (NBC) 17.9 28