TV Ratings : Barney’s a Bust in His Prime-Time Debut

It was the highest-rated TV movie Fox has ever broadcast, but everything’s relative. “Honor Thy Father and Mother: The True Story of the Menendez Murders” didn’t even win its time period and wound up ranking 42nd among last week’s 89 prime-time network programs.

But that was hardly the biggest loser to be found Tuesday in the figures from the A.C. Nielsen Co. In his prime-time debut, Barney was a bust. The purple dinosaur, an icon among preschoolers, attracted only 9% of the available audience with his special on NBC Sunday night and finished 87th overall.

CBS’ adult icon “60 Minutes,” the primary competition at that hour, was No. 3.

NBC didn’t fare much better with its two-part historical drama “World War II: When Lions Roared.” The first installment on Tuesday ranked 52nd, with an audience of about 8.6 million homes, but only about 7 million of them returned for the conclusion Wednesday, which placed 69th overall.

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.Roseanne KABC 20.2 2.Home Improvement KABC 19.3 3.The Simpsons KTTV 19.1 4.60 Minutes KCBS 18.0 5.Seinfeld KNBC 15.6 6.Melrose Place KTTV 15.5 7.”Honor Thy Father and Mother” KTTV 15.3 8.Coach KABC 15.2 9.20/20 KABC 14.9 10.Home Improvement (8 p.m.) KABC 14.9

Weekly Averages CBS: 10.9 ABC: 10.5 NBC: 9.5 FOX: 8.0