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Television

I quite enjoy Sweeps

NBC Dominates Ratings Week
NBC celebrated its 75th anniversary with a dominating week in the Nielsen Media Research ratings, taking the lead during the important May “sweeps” period.
The network’s three-hour anniversary gala Sunday night from Rockefeller Center was watched by 20.4 million people, the fourth most-watched program for the week.
Bob Hope also proved his enduring appeal on television, drawing 13.1 million people for an outtakes special Monday. Hope’s show outdrew Jay Leno’s prime-time “Tonight” special, which had just under 12 million viewers.
For all the nostalgia, NBC’s most popular shows were regular airings of “ER” and “Friends” as they neared big events: Anthony Edwards’ exit from “ER” and the birth of Rachel’s baby on “Friends.”
CBS came in second for the week, as “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” narrowly edged “ER” as the most-watched show of the week. The “ER” ratings were slightly higher, an indication more people were watching the show while alone.
ABC’s movie on a late “Saturday Night Live” star, “Gilda Radner: It’s Always Something,” drew just over 9 million viewers รณ more than a million less than a one-hour special of highlights from the real Radner’s work.
Struggling ABC finished fourth, behind NBC, CBS and Fox, among the 18-to-49-year-old demographic craved by advertisers.
For the week, NBC averaged 15 million viewers (9.7 rating, 16 share), CBS had 12.1 million viewers (8.0, 13), ABC had 8.3 million (5.6, 9), Fox had 7.5 million (4.7, 8), the WB had 4.2 million (2.8, 5), UPN 3.7 million (2.4, 4) and Pax TV 1.1 million (0.8, 1).
ABC’s “World News Tonight” narrowly beat NBC’s “Nightly News,” 9.49 million viewers to 9.41 million (both 6.7 ratings, 14 shares). The “CBS Evening News” had 7.9 million viewers (5.6, 12).
A ratings point represents 1,055,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 105.5 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.
For the week of April 29-May 5, the top 10 shows, their networks and ratings were “ER,” NBC, 16.6; “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 15.9; “Friends,” NBC, 15.4; “Friends” special, NBC, 13.1; “NBC 75th Anniversary,” NBC, 12.7; “Law and Order,” NBC, 12.5; “The West Wing,” NBC, 11.4; “Survivor: Marquesas,” CBS, 11.3; “Everybody Loves Raymond,” CBS, 11.2; “Law and Order: SVU,” NBC, 11.2; “Will & Grace,” NBC, 11.2.