TV Ratings : New Season a Free-for-All

With the new TV season starting next month, last week’s ratings show that it’s totally up for grabs--with ABC, CBS and longtime leader NBC astonishingly tied with 20% of the audience each since the 1990-91 season began 46 weeks ago. Another near dead heat was registered last week as ABC, paced by No. 1 “Roseanne,” was first with an 8.8 rating, while CBS was runner-up with 8.6 and NBC was last with 8.5. Each rating point equals 931,000 homes. The entire list of ratings is on F10.

ABC also won last week’s nightly news ratings with an 8.1, while NBC and CBS were tied with 7.8.

* Fox’s “Beverly Hills, 90210,” a ratings sensation with young girls, continued to perform well, ranking 24th among 87 shows and flourishing at a time when most other TV dramas are struggling to survive.

Show Points Share 1. “Roseanne” (ABC) 14.6 26 2. “60 Minutes” (CBS) 13.9 31 3. “Coach” (ABC) 13.2 23 4. “Designing Women” (CBS) 12.7 21 5. “Unsolved Mysteries” (NBC) 12.6 25 * “Beverly Hills, 90210” (Fox) 10.1 19