TV Ratings : ABC Closes In on CBS; ‘Homicide’ a Killer for NBC

ABC narrowed the gap with front-running CBS by winning the prime-time ratings race last week, according to figures released Tuesday by the A.C. Nielsen Co. With its eighth victory in the 16-week-old season, ABC now trails the two-time defending champion by only two-tenths of a point--which ABC said represents its best competitive position at this point of the season since 1979.

And while NBC ran third last week, it was bolstered by the return of “Homicide: Life on the Street.” The police drama, near cancellation last season because of low ratings, finished No. 10 among the week’s 93 prime-time network programs (and was fifth in the L.A. market) as part of NBC’s strong Thursday night lineup (“Seinfeld” was No. 2 and “Frasier” was No. 5).

Several other new series performed well: ABC’s “Birdland” was No. 34 and CBS’ “Burke’s Law” was No. 35. But NBC’s “Viper,” which had placed No. 11 with a two-hour premiere Jan. 2, fell to No. 65 when it moved into its regular Friday berth last week. And while NBC’s “The Good Life” attracted viewers in about 11.7 million homes with its debut on Monday, only about 7.8 million turned up for it the next night.

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. 60 Minutes KCBS 21.5 2. Seinfeld KNBC 20.6 3. The Simpsons KTTV 19.5 Home Improvement KABC 19.5 5. Homicide: Life on the Street KNBC 18.5 6. Roseanne KABC 18.0 7. Beverly Hills, 90210 KTTV 16.9 Murder, She Wrote KCBS 16.9 9. Frasier KNBC 15.7 10.”Snowbound” KCBS 15.2 Coach KABC 15.2

Weekly Averages

ABC 14.1

CBS 13.4

NBC 12.0

FOX 7.5

Season to Date

CBS 12.8

ABC 12.6

NBC 11.2

FOX 7.1