TV Ratings : ABC Wins Prime-Time Race

No sooner had the networks’ so-called official season ended than champion CBS finished third. Figures released Tuesday by the A.C. Nielsen Co. showed ABC winning the prime-time race last week with an average rating of 10.4, compared to 10.2 for NBC, 10.1 for CBS and 7.3 for Fox. ABC had five shows in the Top 10, including first-year entries “Home Improvement” and “Room for Two,” and also was helped by its newsmagazines: “20/20” ranked No. 9 and “PrimeTime Live” was No. 12.

* ABC wasn’t the only network that had a strong showing with newsmagazines. In only its third outing, “Dateline NBC” won its Tuesday night time period and finished at No. 18 overall.

Points Share 1. “Roseanne” (ABC) 20.2 32 2. “Home Improvement” (ABC) 18.3 30 3. “60 Minutes” (CBS) 15.4 34 4. “Murphy Brown” (CBS) 15.3 24 5. “Unsolved Mysteries” (NBC) 15.0 26 “Room for Two” (ABC) 15.0 24 * “Dateline NBC” (NBC) 12.7 22

(Each rating point represents 921,000 homes. Share is the percentage of viewing audience.)