TV Ratings : NBC’s Tumble to Third Place Puts CBS Back on Top

Without the NBA championships, NBC took a tumble in the prime-time ratings last week, falling back to the third-place berth it occupied for most of the past season. And CBS, which won the ratings race for the 1992-93 season, was back on top--although ABC had the top two programs.

Figures released Tuesday by the A.C. Nielsen Co. showed that ABC’s “Home Improvement” and “Coach” were at the top of the ratings, followed by two CBS movies: “Nightmare in Columbia County” and “Liar, Liar.” NBC’s only Top 10 showing was “Seinfeld” at No. 10.

The networks achieved decidedly mixed results with new series. Fox’s telecast of “The Babe,” starring John Goodman, to kick off its Monday night movie block tied for No. 29, but the debut of the network’s newsmagazine “Front Page” on Saturday finished 81st among the week’s 93 prime-time programs. The first installment of CBS’ “Family Dog” ran second in its time period Wednesday, but the premiere of CBS’ “Johnny Bago” was third in its Friday slot and placed 71st overall. The second edition of CBS’ “Eye to Eye With Connie Chung” was No. 20.

Southland Ratings

Here are A. C. Nielsen’s Top 10 prime-time programs in the Los Angeles area during the same week. Each rating point equals 49,657 households.

Program Station Rating 1. Home Improvement KABC 18.8 2. Roseanne KABC 16.9 3. The Simpsons KTTV 15.0 4. Coach KABC 14.3 5. 60 Minutes KCBS 14.2 20/20 KABC 14.2 7. Seinfeld KNBC 13.1 8. PrimeTime Live KABC 13.0 9. Married ... With Children KTTV 12.7 10. “A Menace Called Dennis” KABC 11.9

Weekly Averages

CBS: 9.9

ABC: 9.2

NBC: 7.6

FOX: 6.1