Football Helps ABC to Rare Win

In one of those cosmic jests that Nielsen occasionally plays, ABC marked its first weekly ratings win of the season a day after letting go the co-chairman of its entertainment group due to sluggish prime-time ratings, based on viewing estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

Granted, entertainment was hardly responsible for the network’s victory, as prime-time coverage of college football combined with holiday-timed reruns to put ABC over the top, ending CBS’ eight-week winning streak despite the biggest audience for “Survivor: Africa” since its premiere. The third-edition finale of the CBS franchise will run Thursday.

Even in victory, ABC had plenty of bad luck, as college football’s national championship game, played in the Rose Bowl, turned into a one-sided affair, resulting in a 20% ratings decline versus the corresponding telecast last year.

NBC recorded another highlight for the “Law & Order” franchise, as “Special Victims Unit” posting a ratings record for the spinoff on Friday. HBO, meanwhile, drew 7.3 million viewers for its midseason return of “Sex and the City”--an extremely impressive number for the pay service, which is received by less than a third of U.S. homes with television.

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National Nielsen Viewership

(tabular data not included)

Brian Lowry