Networks’ Viewership Dips in Spring’s Fair Weather

Spring is definitely here: You can see it in the TV ratings. With daylight savings in effect and temperatures climbing, people are spending less time in front of the TV--at least watching the major networks. According to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research, ABC, CBS and NBC accounted for only 48% of prime-time viewing last week, compared to 53% for the season as a whole.

NBC won the week but did so with a rating that was about 2.1 million homes shy of its season average. ABC was down the same amount as it finished in third place for the secondconsecutive week (although it was second among the 18- to 49-year-old viewership that advertisers prize).

In claiming its second consecutive runner-up showing, CBS scored with its Sunday movie “Harvest of Fire,” starring Patty Duke, which ranked second among the week’s 112 prime-time network programs and was the second-highest-rated TV movie of the season, behind NBC’s “Gulliver’s Travels.” And a special Sunday broadcast of CBS’ “Touched by an Angel” tied for ninth, while its regular Saturday telecast tied for 14th.

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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.

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Program Station Rating 1. Seinfeld KNBC 21.6 2. Friends KNBC 19.3 3. Caroline in the City KNBC 19.2 4. ER KNBC 19.0 5. Boston Common KNBC 17.2 6. 60 Minutes KCBS 14.9 7. Home Improvement KABC 14.0 8. Dateline NBC (Wed.) KNBC 13.9 9. Melrose Place KTTV 13.8 -- “Harvest of Fire” KCBS 13.8

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Weekly Averages

NBC 9.5

CBS 9.2

ABC 8.5

FOX 6.0

UPN 2.7

WB 2.2

Season to Date

NBC 11.7

ABC 10.7

CBS 9.6

FOX 7.4

UPN 3.2

WB 2.5

Source: A. C. Nielsen