‘PJs,’ ‘Providence’ Off to Good Starts

Although a yawn met new network programs during the fall, 1999 has gotten off to a rousing start with the premieres of Fox’s “The PJs” and NBC’s “Providence” over the weekend, based on results issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

“The PJs,” an animated comedy featuring the voice of Eddie Murphy, drew more viewers than fellow Fox shows “The Simpsons” and “The X-Files” Sunday, despite season-high ratings for both programs. Meanwhile, the family drama “Providence,” starring Melina Kankaredes, proved a godsend for NBC, more than doubling the network’s average audience in its Friday time slot.

NBC’s Thursday lineup bounced back after two weeks in which the holidays depressed viewing, as twin titans “Friends” and “ER” delivered their biggest audiences since September.

ABC still won the week, buoyed by the Jan. 4 Fiesta Bowl football game and season-high performances by some of its sitcoms, including “Home Improvement” and “Dharma & Greg.”

Cable Top 10

Here are Nielsen’s top 10 cable programs in prime time last week, also ranked by total viewers (in millions).

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Program Network Viewers 1. “Purgatory” TNT 7.46 2. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) USA 6.95 3. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) USA 6.74 4. Wrestling (Mon., 8 p.m.) TNT 6.70 5. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) TNT 5.54 6. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) TNT 5.31 7. Wrestling (Sun., 7 p.m.) USA 4.97 8. Wrestling (Thurs., 9:05 p.m.) TBS 4.97 9. Wrestling (Thurs., 8:05 p.m.) TBS 4.77 10. “The American President” TNT 4.66

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Network Averages

Here is the number of viewers that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season.

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Last week Season to date ABC 14.37 million 12.40 NBC 14.01 12.43 CBS 13.92 13.20 FOX 11.94 10.71 WB 3.95 4.51 UPN 2.68 2.70

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Southland Viewing

Here are Nielsen’s Top 10 prime-time programs in the Los Angeles area during the same week. The rankings are based on the number of households watching.

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Program Station Households 1. Friends KNBC 1,124,587 2. ER KNBC 1,006,480 3. Just Shoot Me KNBC 985,939 4. Frasier KNBC 924,318 5. Fiesta Bowl Postgame Show KABC 862,697 6. PJs KTTV 857,562 7. The X-Files KTTV 790,805 60 Minutes KCBS 790,805 9. The Simpsons KTTV 785,670 10. Veronica’s Closet KNBC 739,454

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