NBC Edges Out Rival CBS in Close Race for Ratings

NBC edged out CBS by a tenth of a rating point last week as the season continues a close race with all three networks scoring the same share of audience in the season to date, it was reported today.

The most-watched show of the week was a 21-minute football run-over of the NFC Wild Card game on CBS.

Football also upset the news ratings, since both ABC and NBC preempted newscasts for bowl contests on New Year’s Day, leaving CBS the only game in town for news junkies.

As a result, “CBS Evening News” with Dan Rather won the week with a 12.0 rating and a 21 share. ABC’s “World News Tonight” with Peter Jennings had an 11.4 rating and a 21 share; “NBC Nightly News” with Tom Brokaw had a 10.5 rating and a 19 share.

NBC squeaked into No. 1 with a 13.2 rating and a 22 share, followed by CBS with a 13.1 rating and a 21 share, while ABC had an 11.6 rating and a 19 share.

For the season-to-date, NBC leads with a 12.8 rating, followed by ABC with a 12.4 rating and CBS with a 12.3 rating. The way CBS averaged out the share scores, all three networks had a 21. NBC played its statistics differently, giving itself a 22 share, leaving CBS and ABC with a 21 share.

Part of NBC’s win for the week was the special preview of “Blossom” that came in fourth, sandwiched between “The Cosby Show” and “Cheers” on Thursday night.

Also bowing in last week were “Real Life With Jane Pauley” and “Expose” with Tom Brokaw on NBC’s Sunday schedule. Pauley’s show came in 73rd and “Expose” 58th.

Such has been NBC’s Sunday debacle that Pauley still represents a 20% ratings increase and two share points over the combined averages of NBC’s past programming in the time period, and “Expose” marks a 30% ratings increase and three share point advantage.

In the Sunday movie department, the win went to CBS’s “Bump in the Night” in 18th place.

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

THE TOP 10

The top programs for the week ending Sunday, according to the A.C. Nielsen Co.: 1. NFC Wild Card Game (CBS)

2. Cheers (NBC)

3. 60 Minutes (CBS)

4. Blossom (NBC)

5. The Cosby Show (NBC)

6. Rescue 911 (CBS)

7. Murder, She Wrote (CBS)

8. Golden Girls (NBC)

9. Orange Bowl Game (NBC)

10. (tie) Empty Nest (NBC)

Wings (NBC)

Funniest Home Videos (ABC)