TV RATINGS : Plenty of ‘Cheers’ for NBC

With “Cheers” again leading the way, NBC eked out a win in the prime-time ratings last week, beating ABC by one-tenth of a point. Figures released Tuesday by the A.C. Nielsen Co. showed that NBC’s programs had an average rating of 12.2, compared to 12.1 for ABC and 11.4 for CBS. Each point represents 931,000 households. The victory enabled NBC to maintain its narrow lead in its effort to capture a sixth consecutive season championship. CBS, which had been tied with ABC for second overall, fell to third, complaining that it suffered a high number of preemptions due to local basketball playoffs and a Billy Graham Crusade. (The full list of ratings is on F6.)

* “Baby Talk,” the TV adaptation of “Look Who’s Talking” that originally was to have premiered last fall, certainly didn’t suffer for the delay, brought about by a change of stars. With Julia Duffy in the lead and “Full House” as the lead-in, the first installment of the ABC comedy won its time period last Friday and ranked No. 10 among the week’s 89 prime-time programs. Fox didn’t fare as well with its series “Yearbook”: The documentary about an Illinois high school placed 66th in its first outing Thursday, then dropped to 84th on Saturday.

Show Points Share 1. “Cheers” (NBC) 20.6 32 2. “60 Minutes” (CBS) 19.2 32 “Roseanne” (ABC) 19.2 29 4. “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (ABC) 18.6 28 5. “A Different World” (NBC) 17.9 27 “America’s Funniest People” (ABC) 17.9 27 * “Baby Talk” (ABC) 17.0 29