TV Ratings : ‘Home Improvement’ Nails Top Spot in Final Week

CBS won the prime-time season but had to settle for a tie in the final week of so-called “official” competition, as ABC placed six shows among the Top 10. Ratings released Tuesday by the A.C. Nielsen Co. showed ABC scoring big with “Home Improvement,” “Roseanne,” “Coach,” “PrimeTime Live,” “20/20” and its revamped sitcom “Delta,” starring Delta Burke.

CBS was represented in the Top 10 by “60 Minutes” and “Murder, She Wrote.” It also won the movie battle Sunday night, with Part 1 of “The Fire Next Time” placing No. 19 among the week’s 100 prime-time programs, compared to No. 27 for ABC’s “The Woman Who Loved Elvis” and No. 48 for NBC’s “Mobsters.”

In its first outing, CBS’ “Dudley” finished second in its Friday time period behind ABC’s “Step by Step” and ranked No. 53 overall. Among other recent entries to the network lineups, ABC’s “Sirens” was No. 44, CBS’ “Good Advice” tied at No. 60, ABC’s “Home Free” was No. 65, CBS’ “A League of Their Own” tied at No. 73 and Fox’s “Tribeca” was No. 100.

Southland Ratings

Here are A. C. Nielsen’s Top 10 prime-time programs in the Los Angeles area during the same week. Each rating point equals 49,657 households.

Program Station Rating 1. Roseanne KABC 20.0 2. Home Improvement KABC 20.0 3. 60 Minutes KCBS 19.6 4. The Simpsons KTTV 18.1 5. Seinfeld KNBC 17.7 6. Coach KABC 16.5 7. 20/20 KABC 16.3 8. Full House KABC 15.4 9. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air KNBC 15.4 10. Cheers KNBC 15.2

Weekly Averages

ABC: 11.2

CBS: 11.2

NBC: 9.7

FOX: 6.6

Season to Date

CBS: 13.3

ABC: 12.4

NBC: 11.0

FOX: 7.7