NBC Makes Impact With ‘Schindler’s List,’ ‘Asteroid’

NBC again demonstrated its unparalleled ability to promote major TV events last week with telecasts of “Schindler’s List”--the highest-rated movie since “Jurassic Park” in May 1995--and the blockbuster miniseries “Asteroid.”

Throw in NBC’s powerhouse Thursday lineup and the network posted a commanding prime-time ratings win heading toward a big February sweeps victory, based on results issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

National ratings for “Schindler’s List,” starring Liam Neeson, were somewhat lower than NBC’s average in the 36 big cities metered by Nielsen, reflecting slightly less interest in the Holocaust-themed film outside major urban centers. The 3 1/2-hour telecast was still watched in its entirety by more than 33 million viewers.

Though director Steven Spielberg appeared on-air to warn parents about the film’s graphic nature, roughly 1.1 million children age 2-11 viewed the broadcast. Teenagers were encouraged to tune in and watched in higher numbers, with the movie drawing 2.4 million viewers in that age bracket.

ABC elbowed ahead of the other networks to claim a distant second-place finish, thanks mainly to its newsmagazines. “PrimeTime Live’s” Mark Fuhrman interview scored that show’s highest rating in more than a year, while “20/20” reached its biggest audience since March (almost 22 million viewers) following the movie “The Flintstones.”

People may be tiring a bit, meanwhile, of TV awards shows. The two latest--the American Comedy Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards--both accepted record-low ratings.

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Network Averages

Here is the number of viewers that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season.

NBC 19.47 million

ABC 15.13

CBS 13.48

FOX 11.67

UPN 4.81

WB 4.05

Season to Date

NBC 15.69 million

ABC 13.98

CBS 13.92

FOX 12.21

UPN 4.55

WB 3.67

Southland Viewing

Here are Nielsen’s Top 10 prime-time programs in the Los Angeles area during the same week. The rankings are based on the number of households watching.

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Program Station Households 1. Seinfeld KNBC 1,270,207 2. ER KNBC 1,240,552 3. “Schindler’s List” KNBC 1,146,648 4. “Asteroid” Part 2 KNBC 1,112,049 5. Friends KNBC 983,546 6. The Naked Truth KNBC 963,776 7. The Single Guy KNBC 948,948 8. 20/20 KABC 810,560 9. NYPD Blue KABC 771,021 10. Beverly Hills, 90210 KTTV 761,136

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Source: Nielsen Media Research.