Can CBS Still Rate as Big Shot on Block? : Television: Despite ’60 Minutes,’ ‘Murphy Brown’ and Letterman, the network has no new runaway prime-time hits. Its competitors do.

On the surface, CBS is in an enviable position in the network ratings race. It leads in prime time, daytime and now--with David Letterman--in the late-night entertainment arena.

What’s more, in seeking its third straight championship season in the competition that began two months ago, it continues to be the only network that proudly and actively seeks viewers older than the 18-to-49 range favored by advertisers.

Older-skewing series such as “Murder, She Wrote,” “60 Minutes” and “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” are integral to CBS’ success.

And, in this sense, at least, the network’s overall philosophy--based on its longtime strength in grass-roots territory and with traditional audiences--is working. CBS now is making big money again after reclaiming the top spot from NBC in 1991-92.

But the new season, and the current November ratings sweeps, have exposed some serious chinks in CBS’ competitive armor. While it may well triumph again, pressure from ABC--which is close behind CBS for the top spot and has won four of the season’s eight weeks--has exposed the failure of some key programming decisions by the No. 1 network in the last year.

Not only has CBS this fall failed to produce new Top 10 hits like NBC’s “Frasier” and ABC’s “Grace Under Fire,” its programming miscalculations of the last year are rather glaring.

What stands out above all is how the grand plans of CBS to turn Monday into a blockbuster night that might carry the network for years came a cropper. The truth is, the network’s Mondays really haven’t been that huge a ratings magnet ever since former Vice President Dan Quayle’s battle with “Murphy Brown” last year.

By the 1991-92 season--the one in which CBS made the unprecedented jump from last place to first among the Big Three networks--Monday night was looming large on the TV scene.

For viewers, and at CBS, this clearly was going to be the huge night each week that would take the place of the Bill Cosby-led NBC Thursday lineup that had dominated the 1980s. “Cheers,” “The Cosby Show” and “L.A. Law” were all getting a bit long in the tooth.

But over on CBS in 1991-92, the Monday schedule of “Evening Shade,” “Major Dad,” “Murphy Brown,” “Designing Women” and “Northern Exposure” had taken off. All five series ranked among the top 16 shows. There was genuine viewer excitement about the lineup.

And combined with CBS’ one-two punch on Sundays--”60 Minutes” and “Murder, She Wrote”--the network had accumulated a nucleus of first-rank hits that appeared tough to beat.

CBS’ grand plans then began to take shape. It would break up Monday night in 1992-93 and move “Designing Women” and “Major Dad” to Friday as part of a major new lineup to seize that night as well. The Friday lineup would also include a “Golden Girls” remake called “Golden Palace,” a new Bob Newhart sitcom and a fledgling, offbeat drama, “Picket Fences,” which CBS expected to be the “Northern Exposure” of that night.

And Mondays would be a piece of cake with a couple of sophisticated new sitcoms. From Diane English, creator of “Murphy Brown,” there would be “Love & War.” From Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, creator of “Designing Women,” there would be “Hearts Afire.” The gloss and stylishness of Monday nights would be irresistible to viewers.

Alas, not so.

By the end of last season, the Monday lineup that was to be CBS’ 800-pound gorilla had become a solid but hardly unbeatable contender. “Love & War,” which eventually split with its leading lady, Susan Dey, and “Hearts Afire” never really caught on huge despite the hits surrounding them. Comparisons with NBC’s phenomenal Thursdays of the past disappeared.

CBS’ Friday gamble started off reasonably well, but then died. “Designing Women” and “Major Dad,” removed from the winning aura of Mondays, disappeared. So did “Golden Palace.” “Bob” is retooled but is, as they say, on hiatus. “Picket Fences” won some major Emmy Awards in September but has never caught on with viewers, ranking 70th among 102 series this season as of the ratings released this week.

And Mondays? “Murphy Brown” is the night’s only CBS series in the Top 10. “Love & War” is 17th, “Northern Exposure” 18th and “Evening Shade” 27th. An amiable new Monday entry, “Dave’s World,” is 23rd. A solid lineup, but not about to strike fear into any competitor’s heart or carry a network for years.

In fact, in the ratings for the week of Nov. 8-14, “Murphy Brown” was 18th, “Dave’s World” 25th, “Evening Shade” 28th, “Love & War” 30th and “Northern Exposure” 40th. You can make a lot of excuses about tough sweeps competition, but a true blockbuster lineup is almost always a blockbuster.

As for the retooled “Hearts Afire,” now elsewhere on CBS’ prime-time schedule, it ranked 84th among 90 shows for the week of Nov. 8-14.

Despite CBS’ failed gambles, most network programmers would probably still gladly accept the network’s position. But ABC’s roster of hit sitcoms is imposing, among them “Roseanne,” “Home Improvement,” “Grace Under Fire,” “Coach” and “Full House,” along with the new drama “NYPD Blue.”

Even third-ranked, rebuilding NBC looks a tad more interesting than expected these days, what with “Seinfeld” and “Frasier” turning into a Top 10 tandem. NBC also is getting decent ratings mileage out of the now-solid “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Blossom” and “Wings.” And “The John Larroquette Show” could blossom in the right time slot.

Although CBS is having trouble with its nightly newscast as Dan Rather and Connie Chung have tumbled into the cellar, the No. 1 network continues to build its fortunes on the lower-cost newsmagazines that now are so much a major part of prime time. A revamped version of the suspended one-hour “Street Stories” series is expected to return to the lineup, joining such other CBS newsmagazine successes as “60 Minutes” and “48 Hours.”

In addition, the prime-time news trend apparently has encouraged TV’s top network to expand its plans for reviving its legendary “CBS Reports” documentary specials--certainly a welcome development if they take the high road of old.

But, even in this competitive news arena, ABC is putting on the heat as “PrimeTime Live” now has joined “60 Minutes” and “20/20” as prime time’s most-watched magazines.

Despite the disappointment of its 1992-93 Monday gamble, CBS is not likely to buy the argument that if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. You can’t argue with the thinking that if you have some hits, you ought to spread them around to try to beef up the entire schedule.

But, at the moment, what CBS needs is a major, fresh, breakout series or two to help retain and build interest in the network, the way “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” did last season.

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CLARIFICATION: Due to an editing error, our Thursday column indicated that Ronald Reagan surpassed John F. Kennedy in TV effectiveness as President. Our original intention was to suggest that J.F.K. used TV more effectively than any President except Reagan, who was perhaps his equal or at least close. But no President was better on TV than J.F.K.