TV Ratings : News Magazines Moving Up

All four network prime-time news magazines finished among the 15 most-watched programs on television last week, according to ratings released Tuesday by the A.C. Nielsen Co. CBS’ “60 Minutes” led the pack. Thanks to the lead-in of an NFL playoff game, the long-running Sunday night series racked up an audience of 24.2 million homes--a whopping 41% of the households watching TV at the time. ABC’s “20/20” was No. 4 among the week’s 87 prime-time programs, while CBS’ “48 Hours” was No. 11 and ABC’s “PrimeTime Live” tied for No. 14. CBS won the network race, with NBC second and ABC third. The full list of ratings is on F10.

* In its first outings on CBS, the former ABC sitcom “Davis Rules” did very well. The first broadcast on Dec. 30 was seen in about 11.6 million homes. When the show moved into its regular time slot two nights later, even more people tuned in--in about 13.3 million homes--placing it 16th among the week’s programs.

Show Points Share 1. “60 Minutes” (CBS) 26.3 41 2. “Cheers” (NBC) 19.8 30 3. “Murder, She Wrote” (CBS) 19.3 28 4. “20/20” (ABC) 16.9 29 5. “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (ABC) 16.5 24 * “Davis Rules” (CBS) 14.5 22