Musical history failed to make ratings history as the first chapter of "The Beatles Anthology" drew a large but unspectacular audience.
Sunday's Beatles special, featuring the band's first new song since its 1970 breakup, did help boost ABC to a weekly ratings win during the crucial November sweeps. TV stations use the ratings to set ad rates.About 42 million viewers watched the special's first installment, Nielsen Media Research said. ABC put the figure at 47 million and said its expectations were met as the program drew a diverse audience.
"Anthology" ranked sixth for the week, out done by NBC's popular Thursday night lineup that includes "ER" and "Seinfeld."
The second installment of "Anthology" aired Wednesday, and the finale is scheduled for tonight at 8 p.m. (Ch. 4), when an "ER" rerun tries to stare down the Fab Four.
ABC posted four of the top 10 programs to win the week of Nov. 13-19, according to the Nielsen figures. It earned an 11.7 average rating and 19 share.
Second-place NBC, which remained the sweeps leader, earned an 11.5 rating and 18 share with five of the leading shows.
CBS, third with a 10.0 rating, 16 share, had only "60 Minutes" among the highest-rated programs. But its "Chicago Hope" came in 11th, its best Monday showing ever, with the departure of Dr. Geiger (Mandy Patinkin).
Fox Broadcasting Co., which programs 15 of the 22 prime-time hours, had a 7.6 rating, 12 share. Emerging networks UPN and WB earned a 3.4 rating, 5 share, and 2.5 rating, 4 share, respectively.
A single ratings point equals 959,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's 95.9 million TV homes estimated by Nielsen. Share is the percentage of sets tuned in to a show during a given period.
Among newscasts, ABC's "World News Tonight" was the leader with a 10.2 rating and 19 share. "NBC Nightly News" was second with a 9.0 rating, 17 share, followed by "CBS Evening News" with an 8.3 rating, 15 share.
Here are the top 10 shows, their networks and ratings:
1. "ER," NBC, 26.5; 2. "Seinfeld," NBC, 22.0; 3. "Friends," NBC, 21.1; 4. "Caroline in the City," NBC, 18.8; 5. "The Single Guy," NBC, 18.2; 6. "The Beatles Anthology, Part One," ABC, 17.4; 7. "Home Improvement," ABC, 17.2; 8. "NFL Monday Night Football: Cleveland at Pittsburgh," ABC, 16.7; 9. "NYPD Blue," ABC, 15.5; 10. "60 Minutes," CBS, 15.4.