ABC Doesn’t Need ‘Miracle’ to Keep Streak

Reruns dominated prime time as the networks in essence took a breather prior to the May rating sweeps, with ABC cruising to its 17th consecutive victory behind “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” based on viewing estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

ABC holds a commanding advantage for the official TV season, having won 21 of 31 weeks. With four weeks remaining, the only suspense involves CBS and NBC, which will vie for second place in terms of total audience through sweeps.

ABC’s “The Miracle Maker” delivered only so-so ratings on Easter Sunday, attracting 1.5 million fewer viewers than the network averages with “The Wonderful World of Disney.” The animated movie is one of three TV productions this season regarding the life of Jesus, with a CBS miniseries scheduled for next month, following an NBC movie that drew 16.7 million viewers in November.

Buoyed by its “Millionaire” lead-in, the newsmagazine “20/20 Downtown” posted a rare victory over an “ER” rerun Thursday. ABC News didn’t fare nearly as well with its “Earth Day” special, despite the much-lampooned participation of teen heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio.

First-year NBC dramas continue to show promise, as “Third Watch” raced past two competing freshmen series last week, ABC’s “Once and Again” and CBS’ “Family Law.”

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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Net- View- Program work ers 1. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) USA 8.66 2. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) USA 7.15 3. “Deep End of the Ocean” HBO 4.42 4. “Clear and Present Danger” USA 3.56 5. Wrestling (Sun., 7 p.m.) USA 3.40 6. Rugrats (Mon., 7 p.m.) NICK 3.29 7. Rocket Power NICK 3.27 8. Wrestling (Mon., 8 p.m) TNT 3.27 9. Rugrats (Mon., 8:30 p.m.) NICK 3.26 10. “The Parent Trap” DISN 3.22

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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 Season week to date ABC 12.19 million 14.13 CBS 10.74 12.53 NBC 10.18 12.30 FOX 7.45 9.07 UPN 4.15 3.92 WB 2.79 3.66

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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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Sta- House- Program tion holds 1. Millionaire (Sun.) KABC 806,104 2. Millionaire (Tue.) KABC 769,501 3. Millionaire (Thu.) KABC 670,042 4. Ally McBeal KTTV 664,807 5. 60 Minutes KCBS 622,929 6. 20/20 Downtown KABC 612,460 7. Will & Grace KNBC 607,225 8. The Practice KABC 591,521 9. Friends KNBC 586,286 10. 20/20 (Fri.) KABC 581,052

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