‘ER’ Operates Well Against ABC’s ‘Millionaire’

“ER” reigned as prime time’s top program last week but couldn’t slow the “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” express, which carried ABC to its 15th consecutive ratings victory based on viewing estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

CBS finished second despite disappointing results for the NCAA basketball championship game, which saw its Nielsen score drop more than 20% versus last year. The network also fared just reasonably well with Sunday’s live presentation of “Fail Safe,” featuring George Clooney, opposite ABC’s tandem of “Millionaire” and “The Practice.” Still, CBS had a much better night than TNT, whose splashy production of “Don Quixote” tilted at windmills, with the initial telecast drawing just 2.4 million viewers.

“ER’s” performance was particularly impressive considering that the program preceding it, NBC’s new sitcom “Battery Park,” was battered and then some by “Millionaire” with only a “Frasier” rerun to channel viewers its way. ABC’s “Sports Night” also didn’t improve its renewal chances with the second-season finale, losing more than a quarter of the audience that tuned in for lead-in show “Dharma & Greg.”

Given that ABC decided last week to let “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” jump to the WB network next season, it’s worth noting the comedy conjured up 8.8 million viewers--4 million more than the WB’s most-watched program, “Angel.”

Cable Top 10

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

*--*

Net- View- Program work ers 1. The Sopranos HBO 8.96 2. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) USA 8.28 3. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) USA 8.01 4. “The Matrix” HBO 7.11 5. The Sopranos (Sun., 8 p.m.) HBO 4.03 6. Wild Thornberrys (8:30 p.m.) NICK 3.25 7. “Forces of Nature” HBO 3.23 8. Wild Thornberrys NICK 3.17 9. Walker, Texas Ranger USA 3.13 10. Wrestling (Sun.) USA 3.08

*--*

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 ABC 13.09 million 14.23 CBS 11.79 12.69 NBC 10.48 12.44 FOX 7.69 9.18 UPN 3.38 3.92 WB 3.13 3.71

*--*

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. Millionaire (Sun.) KABC 842,787 2. ER KNBC 832,317 3. Millionaire (Tue.) KABC 811,379 4. Law & Order KNBC 779,970 5. Millionaire (Thur.) KABC 759,032 6. 60 Minutes KCBS 743,327 7. Friends KNBC 685,746 8. Frasier KNBC 680,511 9. The Practice KABC 675,276 10. The Simpsons KTTV 664,807

*--*