Wilting Networks Lack Intensity to Hold Viewers

The dog days of summer remain just that for the major television networks, which continue to deliver mediocre ratings based on results for last week issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

The first preseason “Monday Night Football” game provided ABC’s weekly average a small boost but couldn’t rescue the network from another third-place finish. Fox, meanwhile, scored its second-highest weekly rating of the summer thanks to the two-part movie premiere “Intensity,” with John C. McGinley and Molly Parker, which outperformed the competing networks Wednesday night. On the down side, Fox’s medieval drama “Roar” is starting to sound a bit hoarse ratings-wise, dropping to its smallest audience yet.

Another original summer program, CBS’ “Ordinary/Extraordinary,” has thus far fallen into the former category, though the series did improve slightly on the viewing level for its first telecast. Newsmagazines remain the most reliable genre in grabbing rerun-weary viewers, with five of them landing in the Top 10, led by “Dateline NBC.”

Country music also made a dent in prime time last week. In addition to HBO’s live Garth Brooks special, CBS’ “Countryfest ‘97” special produced the network’s best Wednesday night rating in 10 weeks.

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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.

Last Week

NBC: 10.00 million

CBS: 9.50

ABC: 8.83

FOX: 8.12

UPN: 3.72

WB: 3.18

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Season to Date

NBC: 14.17 million

CBS: 12.77

ABC: 12.28

FOX: 10.49

UPN: 4.24

WB: 3.50

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. 60 Minutes KCBS 780,906 2. Seinfeld KNBC 726,539 3. The X-Files KTTV 647,460 4. 20/20 KABC 607,920 5. ER KNBC 593,093 6. PrimeTime Live KABC 563,438 Touched by an Angel KCBS 563,438 8. Dateline NBC (Mon.) KNBC 538,726 The Simpsons KTTV 538,726 10. “Scariest Police Chases” KTTV 509,071

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