TV Ratings : Comedies, ‘Thorn Birds’ Repeats Make ABC No. 1

ABC may have come up short last week in Emmy nominations, winding up in a tie with HBO, but that didn’t stop viewers from tuning in. ABC was the No. 1 network in ratings last week, with its mass-appeal comedies “Rose- anne” and “Home Improvement” leading the way, according to ratings released Tuesday by the A.C. Nielsen Co.

In a week of low-rated summer reruns, ABC had 10 of the Top 15 shows in household ratings, including four repeat installments of “The Thorn Birds.”

The 1983 miniseries, starring Richard Chamberlain as a troubled priest in the Australian outback, was watched in an average of 10 million households.

Despite the outcry over TV violence, Fox beat the Big Three networks for the first time ever on a Monday night with a repeat of the movie “Die Hard.” The 1988 thriller, featuring Bruce Willis as a cop gunning down terrorists in a Los Angeles skyscraper, posted the highest rating ever for a movie on Fox, finishing No. 18 for the week.

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.

Sta- Rat- Program tion ing 1. Roseanne KABC 18.3 2. Home Improvement KABC 17.3 3. 60 Minutes KCBS 15.0 4. The Simpsons KTTV 14.8 Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper KABC 14.8 6. Full House KABC 13.6 7. 20/20 KABC 13.2 Coach KABC 13.2 9. PrimeTime Live KABC 12.5 10. “First Person/Maria Shriver” KNBC 12.0

Weekly Averages

ABC: 10.3

CBS: 9.0

NBC: 7.7

FOX: 5.8