Date: 14th November 2000

Millionaire Beats Miniseries


NBC and CBS each unveiled a miniseries "event" for the November sweeps Sunday night, but neither NBC's In the Beginning, with an 8.4 rating and a 12 share, nor American Tragedy, with an 8.5/13, proved to be much of a match for a celebrity version of ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which pulled in nearly as many viewers as the two miniseries combined, scoring a 16/23.

ABC's The Practice, which followed Millionaire, also beat the two miniseries handily with a 13.3/21. On Monday, Pt. 2 of NBC's biblical miniseries turned out to be something of a plague for the network, as it produced ratings lower than all three of its major rivals. ABC won the night, thanks to Monday Night Football (13.6/22), followed by CBS and Fox. Meanwhile, The WB drew some of its highest ratings ever as 7th Heaven in the 8:00 p.m. hour pulled an 8.5/11, placing second in its time slot.

Source: Studio Briefing