TV Ratings : Election Boosts News Programming

The election played havoc with the Nielsen ratings last week, knocking out a slew of entertainment series with paid political ads on Monday, coverage of the voting results on Tuesday and follow-ups later in the week. But figures released Tuesday showed that news programming benefited: “60 Minutes” was the No. 1 show of the week, “PrimeTime Live” tied for No. 5 and the three network newscasts combined for their biggest weekly ratings since January. ABC won the election coverage competition on Tuesday night and went on to finish first for the week in prime time, averaging a 13.2 rating compared to 12.4 for CBS, 11.7 for NBC and 8.7 for Fox. Meanwhile, the first night of “Sinatra” on Sunday attracted more viewers than ABC’s “Willing to Kill: The Texas Cheerleader Story.”

* Interest in politics did not spill over in a major way to “The Powers That Be,” however. NBC’s comedy about a U.S. senator and his family returned to the lineup last Saturday and wound up placing No. 60 among the week’s 82 prime-time network programs.

TV Ratings

Points Share 1. “60 Minutes” (CBS) 21.9 34 2. “Cheers” (NBC) 19.2 28 3. “Sinatra, Part 1” (CBS) 17.7 26 4. “PrimeTime Live” (ABC) 17.0 28 5. “Northern Exposure” (CBS) 16.8 27 “Home Improvement” (ABC) 16.8 25 * “The Powers That Be” (NBC) 9.0 16

Complete list, F12 (Each rating point represents 931,000 homes.

Share is the percentage of viewing audience.)