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Ratings: NBC Finds Missing "Link"
The Peacock Network is out of the cellar this week, thanks to an extended run of its hot new U.K. game show import, Weakest Link. But don't start wearing out that annoying "You are the weakest link" catchphrase just yet--CBS remained ratings champ in households and total viewers, thanks to its Monday comedies and an increasingly tight grip on Thursday nights, with proven powerhouses Survivor (first place, 28.4 million viewers) and C.S.I. (3rd place, 23.5 million).
And NBC's performance wasn't all thrilling. The net lost more ground on Thursday nights as Friends (ninth place, 16.5 million viewers) and ER (first place tie in households, 24.3 million) dropped to near-record lows for first-run episodes. Then there was the XFL. Poor, poor XFL. Vince McMahon's extreme football league ended with a giant "He Hate Me"-style thud Saturday, as its championship Million Dollar Game inched up to a still-dismal 2.9 million viewers (93rd place for the week).
The good news for NBC, of course, is that this was the XFL's final game. And NBC will probably never have to see Governor Jesse Ventura in the broadcast booth again.
Despite its XFL fiasco, NBC's Weakest Link still pushed the network into first place among adults 18-49--the demographic advertisers drool over. The net averaged a 4.6 rating/13 share, topping second-place Fox. Weakest Link, hosted by Anne Robinson, peaked Wednesday night with 17.5 million viewers, landing in sixth place for the week overall.
But not everyone is going cold, cruel and callous to win viewers. ABC scored big with the Barbara Walters touchy-feely adoption special, Born in My Heart: A Love Story. The Friday-night ABC News special pulled in 15.4 million viewers to land in Nielsen's top 10 for the week ended April 22.
Overall for the week, CBS led the way with an average 11.8 million viewers (8.1 rating/14 share), followed by NBC with 11 million (7.5 rating/13 share) and ABC with 10.3 million (7.1 rating/12 share).
A ratings point represents 1,022,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 102.2 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of turned-on TVs tuned to a particular show.
Among the junior nets, UPN topped its WB competition for the week, despite a powerful springtime return for Felicity. Keri Russell's curly locks pulled in 5 million viewers in its Wednesday, 9 p.m. premiere--more than doubling Jack & Jill's audience the week before, and edging out UPN's second-best performer, Star Trek: Voyager, in the same time period.
Still, the Smackdown Network topped its Frog rival among total viewers (3.7 million vs. 3.5 million), households (2.4 rating/4 share vs. 2.3 rating/4 share) and adults 18-49 (1.6/4 vs. 1.5/4).
Here's a rundown of the week's top 10 among households:
1. ER, NBC, 16.5 rating, 27 share
1. Survivor: The Australian Outback, CBS, 16.5 rating, 27 share
3. C.S.I., CBS, 14.8 rating, 22 share
4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Sunday), ABC, 13.1 rating, 19 share
5. The Practice, ABC, 12.0 rating, 20 share
6. Millionaire (Tuesday), ABC, 11.7 rating, 19 share
6. Weakest Link (Wednesday), NBC, 11.7 rating, 20 share
8. Barbara Walters Special, ABC, 11.6 rating, 21 share
9. Friends, NBC, 11.4 rating, 19 share
10. Law & Order, NBC, 11.1 rating, 17 share
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