‘Friends’ Delivers Big Ratings for NBC
NBC’s “Must-See TV” past and present--”The Cosby Show’s” reunion and “Friends” season finale--paced the network to victory last week as broadcasters race toward tonight’s end of the May rating sweeps, based on viewing estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.
With the birth of Rachel’s baby, “Friends” delivered its biggest audience ever other than a special post-Super Bowl episode in 1998, while “Cosby” held its own against a programming arsenal Sunday that included the payoff to CBS’ “Survivor: Marquesas” (the NBC special actually ranked first from 10 to 11 p.m., after the winner was revealed), the last “The X-Files” and “The Practice’s” two-hour season finale. Buoyed by “Friends,” which finishes its eighth year as TV’s most-watched program, NBC recorded its biggest Thursday-night audience in two years.
Viewers nevertheless seemed to experience a bit of nostalgia overload last week, with modest ratings for other clip and reunion shows, including specials devoted to “MASH,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “TV Guide’s 50 Best Shows.”
ABC received a small boost from the three-part production “Dinotopia,” though viewing dropped each night.
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National Nielsen Viewership
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