Menendez Interview Pushes ‘20/20’ to No. 2 Spot

ABC found out this week that true crime does pay, especially when it comes in the form of an exclusive interview with two convicted murderers who are also brothers. Barbara Walters’ interview on “20/20” with Lyle and Erik Menendez was No. 2 for the week and scored among the newsmagazine’s best ratings in recent years, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

Beside “20/20,” two other newsmagazines--CBS’ “60 Minutes” and NBC’s Wednesday edition of “Dateline NBC”--also landed in the Top Summer reruns and its potent Thursday lineup of repeats propelled NBC once again to its weekly dominance.

Fox’s new struggling series, “L.A. Firefighters” and “The Last Frontier,” held steady, failing to attract many new viewers.

Meanwhile, HBO celebrated its ratings for its original Native American drama “Grand Avenue.” The drama’s premiere Sunday drew a 10.9 rating and 18 share, outperforming ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in homes that subscribe to HBO.

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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 Network Rating 1. Seinfeld KNBC 18.6 2. Mad About You KNBC 15.9 -- 20/20 KABC 15.9 4. Caroline in the City KNBC 13.2 -- ER KNBC 13.2 6. Friends KNBC 12.6 7. 60 Minutes KCBS 12.5 8. Dateline NBC (Wed.) KNBC 12.1 9. Home Improvement KABC 11.4 10. The X-Files KTTV 11.2

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Weekly Averages

NBC 8.2

CBS 7.0

ABC 6.9

FOX 4.6

UPN 2.3

WB 2.0

Season to Date

NBC 11.4

ABC 10.2

CBS 9.3

FOX 6.9

UPN 3.0

WB 2.4

Source: A. C. Nielsen