TV RATINGS : ‘STAT’ Powers ABC to a Win

Bolstered by the lead-in of “Roseanne,” ABC’s sitcom “STAT” registered hit numbers in its debut last week. Ratings released Tuesday by the A. C. Nielsen Co. show that the new medical comedy was watched in about 15.9 million homes--the fourth largest audience among the week’s 88 prime-time programs on the four networks. “STAT” was clearly helped by CBS’ decision to schedule the film “Romero” opposite it; the 1989 feature about efforts to effect change in El Salvador attracted only 10% of the people watching TV at the time. The strong performance by “STAT” helped propel ABC to a narrow victory among the networks, just one-tenth of a point ahead of NBC and four-tenths ahead of CBS. The full list of ratings is on F9.

* PBS’ experience notwithstanding, the nation is not crying out for Civil War stories. ABC learned that Sunday when its movie “The Perfect Tribute,” centered around President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, trailed in its time period, drawing about 9.8 million homes.

Show Points Share 1. “Cheers” (NBC) 18.8 31 2. “60 Minutes” (CBS) 18.6 35 3. “Roseanne” (ABC) 18.3 31 4. “STAT” (ABC) 17.1 29 5. “Murphy Brown” (CBS) 16.3 26 * “The Perfect Tribute” (ABC) 10.5 18