Prime-Time TV Rankings : Sunday ‘Amy’ Helps CBS Close Summer With Win

The new TV season officially began Monday, but one preseason arrival helped CBS close the summer on a winning note, based on viewing estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

CBS successfully used “Touched by an Angel’s” time slot to introduce “Judging Amy,” a new drama that combined with the season premiere of “60 Minutes” to provide the network a commanding Sunday-night victory. Starring Amy Brenneman, “Amy” regularly airs Tuesdays.

Fox, meanwhile, saw ratings for its Wednesday drama “Get Real” diminish from the show’s premiere two weeks ago, while the heavily promoted film industry satire “Action” did particularly well Thursday opposite a “Frasier” rerun and the highest-rated installment yet of UPN’s “WWF Smackdown!”

ABC’s “Monday Night Football” seemed to benefit from a return to the old kickoff time, as the season opener drew more viewers than the corresponding week last year, when games started at 5:20 p.m.

Calls for a viewer boycott in response to the shortage of minority roles in prime time didn’t appear to affect ratings; in fact, combined viewing of the four major networks rose by more than 2 million people versus the previous week.

Cable Top 10

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

*--*

Program Network Viewers 1. Football, Jets vs. Bills ESPN 11.7 2. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) USA 6.81 3. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) USA 6.17 4. NFL Primetime ESPN 5.86 5. “Journey to Center/Earth” Pt. 1 USA 5.03 6. Wrestling (Sun., 7 p.m.) USA 5.02 7. “Journey to Center/Earth” Pt. 2 USA 4.79 8. “There’s Something About Mary” HBO 4.70 9. Wrestling (Mon., 8 p.m.) TNT 4.56 10. Weather Center TWC 3.51

*--*

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 Season week to date CBS 11.30 million 12.48 ABC 10.81 10.93 NBC 9.75 13.35 FOX 7.11 9.43 WB 3.51 4.07 UPN 3.38 2.63

*--*

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.

*--*

Sta- House- Program tion holds 1. Friends KNBC 729,184 2. Frasier KNBC 703,509 3. Judging Amy KCBS 647,023 4. 60 Minutes KCBS 641,888 5. Dharma & Greg KABC 595,672 6. Dateline NBC (Tue.) KNBC 580,266 7. ER KNBC 564,861 8. Ally McBeal KTTV 549,456 9. The Drew Carey Show KABC 544,321 10. Will & Grace KNBC 539,186

*--*