NBC executives are humming Temptations tunes after a TV movie about the Motown veterans won a key shootout with three other films and propelled the network to a win in the weekly prime-time ratings race.
NBC reversed a fourth-place showing from the previous week to win with a 9.4 rating and 16 share, Nielsen Media Research said.In the first Sunday night shootout of the important November "sweeps," where ratings are closely watched to set local advertising rates, four networks pitted big movies against each other at 9 p.m.
Although it received good reviews, the victory by part one of "The Temptations" was something of an upset. Its nearly 23 million viewers were bested only last week by NBC's Thursday-night troika of "ER," "Friends" and "Frasier."
Coming in second to "The Temptations" was Fox's airing of "The Lost World: Jurassic Park." CBS's showing of the Chuck Norris movie, "Logan's War: Bound By Honor" was third. All three movies were among the week's top 13 rated shows.
That left Oprah Winfrey in the unfamiliar position of a distant fourth. ABC's presentation of "Oprah Winfrey Presents: David & Lisa" finished 50th in the week's ratings.
CBS finished second for the week with a 9.0 rating and 15 share, followed by ABC's 8.6 rating and 14 share and Fox's 8.1 rating and 13 share. The WB had a 3.2 rating and 5 share, UPN was at 2.0 and 3 and Pax TV at 0.6 and 1.
Two networks made ratings hay by lifting the mask over entertainment events. The fourth edition of Fox's "Magic Secrets Revealed" series of specials was 25th for the week, while NBC's "Exposed: Pro Wrestling" landed in 63rd place.
For the week of Oct. 26-Nov. 1, the top 10 shows, their networks and ratings were: 1. "ER," NBC, 20.5; 2. (tie) "Friends," NBC, and "Frasier," NBC, 17.0; 4. Movie: "The Temptations, Part One," NBC, 15.0; 5. "Jesse," NBC, 14.6; 6. "Monday Night Football: Pittsburgh at Kansas City," ABC, 14.5; 7. "Veronica's Closet," NBC, 14.1; 8. "60 Minutes," CBS, 13.8; 9. "Touched By an Angel," CBS, 13.6; 10. Movie: "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," Fox, 12.4.
A rating point represents 994,000 households or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 99.4 million TV homes. Share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.