‘Frasier,’ ‘Schindler’s List’ Help NBC Register Win

With a number of popular programs in reruns last week, an original episode of NBC’s “Frasier” climbed to the top of the ratings heap, based on results issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

NBC also posted solid ratings a week before the Academy Awards by sending an Oscar winner, “Schindler’s List,” starring Liam Neeson, into battle Sunday, despite the fact the film attracted less than half the audience that tuned in for its initial broadcast two years ago.

Early-round coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament on Thursday, Friday and Saturday helped CBS score its second-best overall rating this season with male viewers, while the network’s “Walker, Texas Ranger” spinoff, “Sons of Thunder,” dipped more than 30% compared to its premiere. ABC also experienced a setback with the new drama “Strange World,” which aired Monday and Tuesday, faring worse than “NYPD Blue” reruns in the latter slot. A similar performance this week will likely earn the show an early hook.

UPN’s telecast of the “TV Academy Hall of Fame” ceremony had the dubious distinction of ranking dead last among the week’s network offerings--well below ratings for that network’s new Friday series, “America’s Greatest Pets.”

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. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) USA 7.24 2. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) USA 6.86 3. Wrestling (Mon., 8 p.m.) TNT 5.66 4. Wrestling (Sun., 7 p.m.) USA 5.25 5. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) TNT 4.74 6. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) TNT 4.57 7. “Sphere” HBO 4.38 8. Rugrats NICK 4.33 9. “Space Jam” TNT 4.32 10. “U.S. Marshals” HBO 4.30

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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 NBC 12.66 million 12.81 CBS 12.11 13.28 ABC 11.36 12.21 FOX 9.16 11.20 WB 4.30 4.64 UPN 2.83 2.78

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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 House-holds 1. Friends KNBC 929,453 2. Frasier KNBC 857,562 3. Jesse KNBC 842,156 4. Veronica’s Closet KNBC 729,184 5. The Practice KABC 641,888 6. 60 Minutes KCBS 631,617 7. ER KNBC 626,482 8. Dateline NBC (Tue.) KNBC 580,266 9. Sabrina, the Teenage Witch KABC 569,996 10. 20/20 (Fri.) KABC 554,591

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