Oscars boost ABC to victory

While awards show was most-watched in week, telecast drew its second-smallest audience since 1974

Web posted April 4, 1997

Associated Press

NEW YORK - The telecast of the Academy Awards helped ABC to a narrow victory in last week's television ratings race, but the popular awards show may be losing its grip on viewers.

The Oscars telecast, with Billy Crystal returning as host and The English Patient dominating the awards, was easily the week's most-watched program, scoring a 27.4 rating and 46 share for ABC, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday.

Yet it drew the second-lowest ratings of any Oscar telecast since measurements were started in 1974. Only the 1987 program drew lower ratings.

For the week, both ABC and NBC had ratings of 9.6 and 17 shares, but Nielsen estimated that ABC had slightly more viewers. CBS was third with an 8.7 rating and 15 share, followed by Fox's 6.5 rating and 11 share.

Among the two emerging networks, UPN led with a 3.2 rating and 5 share, while the WB had a 2.6 rating and 4 share.

Nielsen ratingsPrime-time ratings for March 24-30. Top 20 listings include the week's ranking, with rating for the week and total homes. An X in parentheses denotes one-timeonly presentation. A rating measures the percentage of the nation's 97.0 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 970,000 households.

1.(X)Academy Awards, ABC, 27.4, 26.6 million homes

2.Seinfeld, NBC, 18.3, 17.8 million homes

3.Friends, NBC, 16.0, 15.5 million homes

4.Suddenly Susan, NBC, 14.8, 14.4 million homes

5.(X)Barbara Walters Special, ABC, 14.5, 14.1 million homes

6.Naked Truth, NBC, 13.9, 13.5 million homes

7.Touched by an Angel, CBS, 13.7, 13.3 million homes

8.CBS Sunday Movie: Walton's Easter, CBS, 13.3, 12.9 million homes

9.NBC Sunday Night Movie: A Few Good Men, NBC, 12.8, 12.4 million homes

10.(X)CBS NCAA Basketball Championship: Minnesota vs Kentucky, CBS, 12.5, 12.1 million homes

11.Home Improvement, ABC, 12.4, 12.0 million homes

11.20/20, ABC, 12.4, 12.0 million homes

13.60 Minutes, CBS, 11.9, 11.5 million homes

14.Law & Order, NBC, 11.8, 11.4 million homes

15.Dateline NBC, (Tuesday) NBC, 11.5, 11.2 million homes

16.Drew Carey Show, ABC, 10.8, 10.5 million homes

16.Dateline NBC, (Friday) NBC, 10.8, 10.5 million homes

18.Dateline NBC, (Wednesday) NBC, 10.4, 10.1 million homes

19.Spin City, ABC, 10.3, 10.0 million homes

20.X-Files, Fox, 10.2, 9.9 million homes

21.(X)CBS NCAA Basketball Bridge: North Carolina vs Arizona, CBS, 10.0

22.(X)CBS NCAA Basketball Championship: North Carolina vs Arizona, CBS, 9.9

23.Frasier, NBC, 9.8

24.PrimeTime Live, ABC, 9.5

25.48 Hours, CBS, 9.4

26.Mad About You, NBC, 9.3

27.(X)Cotton Inc. Ultimate Four Skating Championship, NBC, 8.9

27.Practice, ABC, 8.9

29.Caroline in the City, NBC, 8.8

29.Nanny, CBS, 8.8

31.Sabrina the Teenage Witch, ABC, 8.7

31.CBS NCAA Basketball Post: Minnesota vs Kentucky, CBS, 8.7

33.Coach, ABC, 8.6

33.(X)Just Shoot Me, NBC, 8.6

35.Ellen, ABC, 8.4

35.Roseanne, ABC, 8.4

37.Step by Step, ABC, 8.3

38.Cosby, CBS, 8.2

39.Family Matters, ABC, 8.1

39.Nash Bridges, CBS, 8.1

39.Arsenio, ABC, 8.1

39.Just Shoot Me, NBC, 8.1

43.Party of Five, Fox, 7.8

43.Turning Point, ABC, 7.8

45.Boy Meets World, ABC, 7.7

45.Grace Under Fire, ABC, 7.7

47.Temporarily Yours, CBS, 7.6

47.CBS Tuesday Movie: A Husband, A Wife and a Lover, CBS, 7.6

49.Simpsons, Fox, 7.5

49.ABC Sunday Night Movie: Ten Commandments Part 1, ABC, 7.5

49.JAG, CBS, 7.5

49.Unsolved Mysteries, NBC, 7.5

53.King of The Hill, Fox, 7.3

53.Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS, 7.3

55.Feds, CBS, 7.1

56.NBC Monday Night Movies: Hard Target, NBC, 7.0

57.Promised Land, CBS, 6.9

58.Wings, NBC, 6.8

59.(X)Cops 2, Fox, 6.7

59.Fox Tuesday Night Movie: Housesitter, Fox, 6.7

61.America's Most Wanted, Fox, 6.6

62.(X)Cops 1, Fox, 6.5

62.Cops 2, Fox, 6.5

62.Orleans, CBS, 6.5

62.World Figure Skating Championship, ABC, 6.5

62.Single Guy, NBC, 6.5

67.Millennium, Fox, 6.3

67.Best Moments of Beverly Hills 90210, Fox, 6.3

69.Dateline NBC, (Sunday) NBC, 6.1

70.World of Peter Rabbit, CBS, 6.0

70.Cops, Fox, 6.0

72.EZ Streets, CBS, 5.9

73.(X)Cops 3, Fox, 5.8

73.New York Undercover, Fox, 5.8

73.Cybill, CBS, 5.8

73.NewsRadio, NBC, 5.8

77.Vital Signs, ABC, 5.7

78.RSVP: Funniest Party Disasters, Fox, 5.6

78.Jeff Foxworthy, NBC, 5.6

80.Moloney, CBS, 5.5

81.Living Single, Fox, 5.4

82.(X)Jeff Foxworthy, NBC, 5.3

82.Crisis Center, NBC, 5.3

84.Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS, 5.2

84.(X)Cops 4, Fox, 5.2

84.Chicago Hope, CBS, 5.2

84.Ink, CBS, 5.2

88.Sliders, Fox, 5.1

89.Martin, Fox, 4.9

90.(X)Gala at Ford's Theatre, ABC, 4.0

91.Sentinel, UPN, 3.6

92.Wayans Brothers, WB, 3.4

93.Malcolm & Eddie, UPN, 3.3

94.Moesha, UPN, 3.2

94.Jamie Foxx Show, WB, 3.2

94.(X)Sister, Sister, WB, 3.2

97.In The House, UPN, 3.1

97.Star Trek: Voyager, UPN, 3.1

99.(X)Dignity of Children, ABC, 3.0

100.(X)ABC News Town Meeting, ABC, 2.9

101.Social Studies, UPN, 2.8

101.Sister, Sister, WB, 2.8

103.Sparks, UPN, 2.7

104.Goode Behavior, UPN, 2.4

105.Unhappily Ever After, WB, 2.3

106.Burning Zone, UPN, 2.1

107.Buffy The Vampire Slayer, WB, 2.0

107.Life With Roger, WB, 2.0

107.Steve Harvey Show, WB, 2.0

107.Parent 'Hood, WB, 2.0

111.Nick Freno: License to Teach, WB, 1.9

112.(X)7th Heaven, WB, 1.7

112.Brotherly Love, WB, 1.7