NBC Is Golden With Globes, Thursday Lineup

The Golden Globe Awards teamed with NBC’s Thursday lineup to launch the network into its highest ratings orbit since June and first weekly victory in total viewing since early November, based on results issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

Sunday’s Globes presentation, which featured a tribute to Jack Nicholson, drew the biggest audience since NBC began airing the awards in 1995. Those results could bode well for the upcoming Oscars, given that many attributed viewing increases for both ceremonies last year to the tide of interest created by “Titanic.”

Several new programs have gotten off to solid starts this month, the latest being CBS’ “Turks,” starring William Devane, which performed respectably in its premiere Thursday against NBC’s “Frasier.” “Providence” remains the star of the midseason class, and the NBC drama easily won its time slot again Friday, although viewing of the program has drifted downward slightly with each telecast.

Among established fare, “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Ally McBeal” continue to benefit from “Monday Night Football’s” absence. Despite airing opposite each other, each program posted record high ratings on Jan. 18.

Cable Top 10

Here are Nielsen’s top 10 cable programs in prime time last week, also ranked by total viewers (in millions).

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Program Network Viewers 1. Rugrats NICK 7.96 2. Wrestling (Mon., 8 p.m.) TNT 6.35 3. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) USA 6.30 4. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) USA 5.92 5. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) TNT 4.90 6. Wrestling (Sun., 7 p.m.) USA 4.88 7. Wrestling (Thurs., 9:05 p.m.) TBS 4.82 8. “The Postman” HBO 4.79 9. Wrestling (Thurs., 8:05 p.m.) TBS 4.76 10., Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) TNT 4.37

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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.

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Last week Season to date NBC 14.92 million 12.59 CBS 13.09 13.31 FOX 10.25 10.69 ABC 10.14 12.23 WB 5.12 4.58 UPN 2.83 2.69

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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. Golden Globe Awards KNBC 1,217,019 2. ER KNBC 1,088,641 3. Frasier KNBC 996,209 4. Friends KNBC 919,183 5. Jesse KNBC 847,292 6. Veronica’s Closet KNBC 837,021 7. 60 Minutes KCBS 790,805 8. Ally McBeal KTTV 780,535 9. The X-Files KTTV 647,023 10. Law & Order KNBC 616,212

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