TV Ratings : For Top-Ranked ABC, It’s Saturday Night Dead

As the season thickens, so does the ratings race. ABC finished on top in household ratings for the second time in a row last week, but less than a ratings point separated CBS, last season’s No. 1 network, and NBC.

With seven of the top 11 shows, ABC averaged a 12.9 rating, followed by 12.3 for CBS and 12 for NBC, according to numbers released by the A.C. Nielsen Co. Tuesday. For the second half of the week--the start of the November ratings sweeps--the three networks actually finished in a dead heat with a 12.1 rating.

ABC’s weekly victory, its third in the 7-week-old season, came on the strength of its regularly scheduled programs, including “Home Improvement” (No. 1) and “Roseanne” (No. 4), the top two series in season-to-date ratings.

But there was bad news for ABC as well: its entire new Saturday night lineup.

Heavyweight boxer George Foreman’s sitcom premiered strong in a special time slot Friday night. But the second episode fell hard when “George” moved to its regular 8 p.m. time slot the next night, ranking No. 82 out of 97 prime-time programs. It was downhill from there, with the season premiere of “Where I Live” finishing at No. 92, and the second episode of “The Paula Poundstone Show,” which did not air in Los Angeles, plunging to No. 96.

On CBS, “The Nanny,” starring Fran Drescher, premiered with an 11.1 rating on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., CBS’ highest rating for a regular program in the time period this season.

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 50,064 households.

Program Station Rating 1. Home Improvement KABC 22.2 2. The Simpsons KTTV 20.6 3. Seinfeld KNBC 19.6 4. 60 Minutes KCBS 19.1 5. 20/20 KABC 18.6 6. Beverly Hills, 90210 KTTV 17.7 7. Frasier KNBC 17.0 8. “Ghost” KCBS 15.5 Grace Under Fire KABC 15.5 10. “Dances With Wolves” Pt. 1 KABC 15.3

Weekly Averages

ABC: 12.9

CBS: 12.3

NBC: 12.0

FOX: 7.4

Season to Date

CBS: 13.3

ABC: 12.9

NBC: 11.1

FOX: 7.2