Date: 25th October 2000

ABC Wins Week - Narrowly


ABC held on to the ratings leadership last week, thanks once again to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and the Practice. NBC, however, was able to capture the most 18-49 year-old viewers due to its hit Thursday-night lineup. ABC barely eked out its overall win, drawing an 8.9 rating and a 14 share, representing 9,095,800 viewers, while NBC pulled an 8.5/14, representing 8,687,000 viewers. CBS finished third with an 8.1/13 (8,278,200 viewers) followed by Fox with a 7.7/13 (7,869,400 viewers). Commenting on the ratings results at a luncheon meeting of the International Radio and Television Society in New York, NBC Entertainment chief Garth Ancier remarked that the 8:00 hour on Monday nights "is clearly our most troubled time period. ... Look for a change in the very near future." Within hours after Ancier spoke, NBC announced that it was canceling both of the new sitcoms occupying that hour, Daddio and Tucker, and replacing them with a fourth installment of its magazine show Dateline effective next Monday. The cancellations were the first by any network this season. The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research: 1. E.R. NBC, 18.0/29; 2. Friends, NBC, 15.2/25; 3. Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS, 14.1/210.; 4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Wednesday), ABC, 14.0/23; 5. Will & Grace (8:00 p.m.), NBC, 13.8/22; 6. Millionaire (Sunday), ABC, 13.1/19; 7. Will & Grace (8:30 p.m.), NBC, 12.7/19; 8. World Series Game 2, Fox, 12.6/20; 9. The Practice, ABC, 12.5/20; 10. Becker, CBS, 12.3/18.

Source: Studio Briefing