TV Ratings : Jerry Rice Carries the Ball Across the Goal for ABC

Jerry Rice was the biggest star on television last week. Figures released Tuesday by the A.C. Nielsen Co. showed that the “Monday Night Football” game--in which Rice scored three touchdowns to set an NFL career record of 127, leading the San Francisco 49ers to a 44-14 win over the Raiders--was the top-rated program last week. It was seen in about 19 million homes.

Sunday’s Emmy Awards telecast on ABC finished at No. 9 among the week’s 85 prime-time network programs, registering a 7% ratings increase over last year for its best showing since 1986, ABC reported. The program was seen in about 14.1 million homes.

“60 Minutes” began its 27th season with a seventh-place finish and helped give a big send-off to the new CBS comedy that followed on Sunday, “The Boys Are Back,” which placed 11th.

Returning for its fifth season, Fox’s “Beverly Hills, 90210” placed 10th and tied its best-ever rating, which had come for the season finale last May. Among Fox newcomers, “New York Undercover” ranked 49th, “Wild Oats” was 68th, “M.A.N.T.I.S.” was 75th and “Fortune Hunter” was 79th.

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. “46th Primetime Emmy Awards” KABC 22.5 2. Beverly Hills, 90210 KTTV 19.3 3. Home Improvement KABC 18.4 4. The Simpsons KTTV 18.0 5. Roseanne KABC 16.7 6. Grace Under Fire KABC 15.5 7. 60 Minutes KCBS 15.4 8. Married ... With Children KTTV 14.8 9. Seinfeld KNBC 14.5 10. Full House KABC 14.1

Weekly Averages

ABC 11.2

CBS 9.5

NBC 8.3

FOX 7.9

Source: A. C. Nielsen