ABC’s Results Are No Mere Illusion

David Blaine worked his magic for ABC, which edged its competitors with the usual assistance from “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” based on viewing estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

In his third special, the slick street illusionist broke free from a block of ice, cracking the top 20 and placing a strong second to NBC’s “Law & Order” last Wednesday.

On Sunday, “Papa’s Angels,” a CBS movie with Scott Bakula and Eva Marie Saint, easily winged its way past NBC’s “In His Life: The John Lennon Story,” which was fourth in its time slot with 7.3 million viewers.

Overall, it was an off-key week for pop music specials, which generally hit some low notes. A CBS hour fronted by Elton John fared the best, attracting 10 million viewers. Meanwhile, Britney Spears sang on Fox for 7.2 million, which was slightly better than the network’s audience for ‘N Sync. Not surprisingly, both shows did well with teens and young women.

NBC held its own with two specials: “Crocodile Hunter,” which improved on the Peacock’s usual Monday numbers at 8 p.m., and “Christmas in Rockefeller Center,” which also provided a boost on Wednesday.

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. NFL Football (Sun.) ESPN 8.17 2. NFL Football (Thurs.) ESPN 7.23 3. Wrestling (Mon. 10 p.m.) TNN 6.96 4. Wrestling (Mon. 9 p.m.) TNN 5.82 5. “Dune” (Part 1) Sci 4.96 6. “Stuart Little” HBO 4.44 7. “Wed. Singer (Sun. 8 p.m) TNT 4.43 8. NFL Primetime ESPN 4.41 9. “Wed. Singer” (Fri. 8 p.m.) TNT 4.01 10. “Santa Claus Is Comin’ ” Fox 3.91

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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 13.67 million 13.47 NBC 11.93 12.82 CBS 11.84 12.33 FOX 9.61 10.15 UPN 4.42 4.28 WB 4.13 4.36

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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. West Wing KNBC 813,838 2. Frasier KNBC 749,588 3. Primetime KABC 738,880 4. Law & Order KNBC 696,046 Will & Grace KNBC 696,046 6. Ally McBeal KTTV 653,212 Law and Order: SVU KNBC 653,212 8. “David Blaine” KABC 637,150 9. Millionaire (Wed.) KABC 631,796 10. Millionaire (Tue.) KABC 594,316 60 Minutes KCBS 594,316

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