TV Ratings

“Seinfeld” got whipped by “Home Improvment” when they competed head to head a couple of years back, but now the NBC series rules the ratings and is expected to dethrone the reigning ABC champion as television’s top-rated series when the season ends next month. “Seinfeld” was No. 1 again last week with an episode that focused on Kramer, played by Michael Richards.

The figures released Tuesday by the A.C. Nielsen Co. didn’t contain much good news for new series, with the exception of NBC’s “Hope & Gloria,” which ranked ninth among the week’s 101prime-time network programs--even though its ratings were down about 8.5% from its first outing.

Fox’s “VR.5,” on the other hand, dropped about 20% in its second telecast last Friday and ranked 89th. “Medicine Ball,” another new Fox entry, ranked 83rd.

The premiere of CBS’ family drama “Under One Roof” finished third in its Tuesday time slot and ranked 51st overall, while two CBS comedies, “The George Wendt Show” and “The Office,” registered lower viewership than for their initial episodes the previous week.

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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 Network Rating 1. Seinfeld KNBC 26.6 2. Friends KNBC 23.3 3. Home Improvement KABC 23.1 4. ER KNBC 21.6 5. Grace Under Fire KABC 18.6 6. Hope and Gloria KNBC 17.2 7. NYPD Blue KABC 16.7 8. 60 Minutes KCBS 16.5 9. Roseanne KABC 16.0 10. Mad About You KNBC 15.9

Weekly Averages NBC: 11.5 ABC: 11.1 CBS: 9.2 FOX: 7.6 UPN: 3.8 WB: 1.7

Season to Date ABC: 12.1 NBC: 11.6 CBS: 11.3 FOX: 7.8 UPN: 4.7 WB: 1.9 Source: are A. C. Nielsen