NBC Gets Good Performances From Supporting Cast

Ratings champs “ER” and “Seinfeld” delivered big numbers last week, but NBC was most heartened by strong showings from some supporting players, based on results issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

“Just Shoot Me” looks like an emerging star, successfully auditioning for a place in NBC’s “Must-See TV” lineup by retaining nearly all of its “Friends” lead-in audience Thursday. (Previous occupant “Union Square” on average lost one in five “Friends” viewers.)

Apparently benefiting from its post-Super Bowl exposure, “3rd Rock From the Sun” also reached its highest ratings orbit since moving to Wednesdays. NBC’s decision to rerun “Seinfeld” prior to “3rd Rock” has probably helped too.

The NFL season closed on a flat note, as the audience for ABC’s coverage of the Pro Bowl dropped 13% from last year. The “Hallmark Hall of Fame,” meanwhile, scored again for CBS: “The Love Letter,” starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, won the Sunday movie race, though NBC provided solid competition with the thriller “The Lake.”

With the other networks covering the State of the Union Address on Jan. 27, the WB’s new teen drama “Dawson’s Creek,” also posted that network’s highest rating ever.

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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.

Last Week

NBC: 15.24 million

CBS: 12.78

ABC: 12.01

FOX: 9.92

WB: 5.21

UPN: 3.19

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Season to Date

NBC: 15.69 million

CBS: 13.42

ABC: 12.82

FOX: 10.64

WB: 4.42

UPN: 4.25

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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 1,242,289 2. ER KNBC 1,192,197 3. Friends KNBC 1,056,948 4. Veronica’s Closet KNBC 1,046,929 5. 60 Minutes KCBS 981,809 6. Just Shoot Me KNBC 936,726 7. “American Music Awards” KABC 866,597 8. “The Love Letter” KCBS 756,394 9. Touched by an Angel KCBS 711,311 10. Law & Order KNBC 686,265

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Source: Nielsen Media Research