TV Ratings : Fox Jumps Over NBC Into Third Place

President Bush isn’t the only one to have taken a tumble in the polls in the wake of the Democratic National Convention: So did NBC. Figures released Tuesday by the A.C. Nielsen Co. showed that, for the first time, Fox came in third in the network race last week, ahead of NBC. Of course, NBC was covering the political convention and Fox wasn’t, and Fox doesn’t program as many hours a week as NBC, but a first’s a first. CBS led with an average 8.5 rating, followed by ABC with 7.7, Fox with 7.3 and 7 for NBC. Especially good news for Fox was the performance of its new series “Melrose Place,” which ranked No. 9 overall, with “Beverly Hills, 90210” not far behind at No. 14.

* If this was the send-off, NBC has nowhere to go but up when it begins coverage of the Summer Olympics this weekend. Its Olympic preview show on Sunday night attracted only 8% of the available audience at 7 p.m. and tied with Fox’s “Totally Hidden Video” as the lowest-rated prime-time program of the week. It was seen in about 3 million homes.

Points Share 1. “Roseanne” (ABC) 15.3 26 2. “All-Star Game” (CBS) 14.9 27 “Home Improvement” (ABC) 14.9 27 4. “60 Minutes” (CBS) 14.7 33 5. “Full House” (ABC) 13.0 25 * “Olympic Sendoff” (NBC) 3.3 8

(Each rating point represents 921,000 homes.

Share is the percentage of viewing audience.)