Though Not Titanic, ABC Gets Oscar-Led Win

The Oscars awarded ABC the network’s fourth ratings victory in 26 weeks, based on data issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

Although Sunday’s Academy Awards, hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, didn’t approach the “Titanic” rating posted a year ago (or even match tune-in for Monica Lewinsky’s “20/20” interview), the ceremony easily surpassed viewing from 1997, when “The English Patient” was crowned best picture. Barbara Walters, meanwhile, might want to stick with Lewinsky, as her latest star-studded Oscar special dropped almost 20% compared to its average the last two years.

ABC’s highlights didn’t extend much beyond Sunday. The network canceled the drama “Strange World” after just three airings, as last week’s episode delivered ABC’s lowest rating ever in its Tuesday slot, prompting “NYPD Blue’s” return to that beat sooner than expected.

“Payne,” a new CBS comedy starring John Larroquette, looked promising in a March 15 preview after “Everybody Loves Raymond,” which delivered its third-biggest audience yet, but fared poorly last Wednesday, as did an original episode of “Cosby” opposite a rerun of “Dharma & Greg.”

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. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) USA 6.83 2. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) USA 6.55 3. Wrestling (Mon., 8 p.m.) TNT 5.56 4. Wrestling (Sun., 7 p.m.) USA 4.68 5. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) TNT 4.59 6. “Earthly Possessions” HBO 4.28 7. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) TNT 4.06 8. Wrestling (Thur., 9 p.m.) TBS 3.83 9. Boxing (Holyfield vs. Lewis) HBO 3.77 10. Walker, Texas Ranger USA 3.66

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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 ABC 14.81 million 12.31 NBC 11.72 12.77 CBS 11.28 13.20 FOX 8.47 11.09 WB 4.54 4.63 UPN 2.52 2.78

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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. 71st Academy Awards KABC 2,238,904 2. “Barbara Walters Special” KABC 1,329,991 3. Friends KNBC 1,042,425 4. Frasier (9:30 p.m.) KNBC 888,372 5. Frasier KNBC 842,156 6. Jesse KNBC 780,535 7. ER KNBC 759,995 8. Dateline NBC (Tue.) KNBC 652,158 9. “Evening/Academy Awards” KABC 626,482 10. Dharma & Greg KABC 611,077

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