CBS Gets a Kick From the Playoffs

Prime-time coverage of the Raiders-Patriots playoff game provided CBS its highest Saturday night rating since the 1994 Winter Olympics, pacing the network to its 10th overall victory in the last 11 weeks, based on viewing estimates issued by Nielsen Media Research.

NBC also generated strong tune-in for the Golden Globe Awards, which saw its audience rise 4% compared with last year. Dueling quiz shows “The Chamber” and “The Chair,” meanwhile, each premiered to respectable ratings, though both experienced significant declines for their second telecasts after Fox and ABC raced to get them on the air.

CBS also launched the Supreme Court drama “First Monday,” which got off to a solid start in a Tuesday preview after the season’s most-watched episode of “JAG” and then fared reasonably well in its regular Friday time slot.

Notably, NBC’s “Roots” 25th anniversary special drew weak ratings and was beaten by “America’s Funniest Home Videos” on ABC, which passed on the program even though the miniseries originally played on that network.

CBS pulled in only so-so ratings with the Chuck Norris movie “The President’s Man: A Line in the Sand,” which dealt with terrorist themes.

Brian Lowry

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National Nielsen Viewership

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