TV Ratings : Lampoon ‘Vacation’ Outdraws Hyped ‘Wonderful Life’

NBC went to great lengths to acquire and promote its exclusive rights to the 1946 Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” this year, but viewers were much more interested in seeing a more recent holiday film, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”

The latter film from 1989, starring Chevy Chase, was seen in about 14.9 million homes Sunday night, while “It’s a Wonderful Life,” with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, attracted about 9.7 million households on Saturday night. Luckily for NBC, it broadcast both.

Even so, figures released Tuesday by the A.C. Nielsen Co. put ABC in first place for last week, with “Home Improvement” and “Grace Under Fire” topping the prime-time chart and “NYPD Blue,” “Monday Night Football” and “Ellen” also placing among the Top 10 programs.

“The X-Files” on Fox posted its best ratings ever with about 9.9 million homes watching. The network fared less well with the fifth annual “Billboard Music Awards” on Wednesday, which was seen in about 7 million homes.

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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 50,064 households.

Program Station Rating 1. Home Improvement KABC 23.3 2. Seinfeld KNBC 20.7 3. Grace Under Fire KABC 20.1 4. ER KNBC 18.6 5. Full House KABC 17.3 6. NYPD Blue KABC 17.1 7. 60 Minutes KCBS 16.9 8. The X-Files KTTV 16.0 9. Murder, She Wrote KCBS 15.7 10. Roseanne KABC 14.9

Weekly Averages

ABC: 12.0

NBC: 11.7

CBS: 10.7

FOX: 7.2

Season to Date

ABC: 12.2

CBS: 11.9

NBC: 11.5

FOX: 7.8

Source: A. C. Nielsen