TV Ratings : ‘White’ Helps Push CBS to Top-Dog-of-Week Status

An estimated 26 million viewers tuned in to see Raymond Burr’s final performance as Perry Mason last week, according to A. C. Nielsen figures released Tuesday. NBC’s “The Case of the Killer Kiss,” the last project completed by Burr before his death Sept. 12, ranked No. 5 among the week’s 89 prime-time network programs.

It was not the week’s top-rated movie, however. That distinction went to “To Dance With the White Dog,” which ranked No. 2 and attracted about 30.7 million viewers, trailing only the ABC sitcom “Home Improvement.” More than that, though, the CBS Sunday film with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy became the highest-rated TV movie of the 11-week-old season.

That showing, plus Top 10 finishes by “60 Minutes” and “Murder, She Wrote,” helped propel CBS to victory over its rival networks. But the premiere of its drama “Second Chances” on Thursday didn’t help. The show finished third in its time period and tied for No. 51 overall.

Fox, meanwhile, did not place a single show in the Top 40. “The Simpsons,” the network’s top-rated series last season, ran fourth in its time period with a repeat last Thursday.

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.

Sta- Rat- Program tion ing 1. Home Improvement KABC 20.4 2. Roseanne KABC 19.8 3. 60 Minutes KCBS 19.3 4. “To Dance With the White Dog” KCBS 17.4 Seinfeld KNBC 17.4 6. Home Improvement (8 p.m.) KABC 16.9 7. Murder, She Wrote KCBS 16.2 8. Coach KABC 16.1 9. Beverly Hills, 90210 KTTV 16.0 10. The Simpsons KTTV 12.7

Weekly Averages

CBS: 13.1

ABC: 12.1

NBC: 11.6

FOX: 6.6

Season to Date

CBS: 13.3

ABC: 12.7

NBC: 11.4

FOX: 7.3