THE NIELSENS

`Millionaire' special edition `a cheap shot'

10-Feb-2000 Thursday

With another week dominating the television ratings, ABC's "Who Wants to Be
a Millionaire" has turned into a potent weapon in cutthroat network
competition.

Four editions of the quiz craze -- three regular airings and a special --
were the four most-watched programs on prime-time TV last week, according
to Nielsen Media Research.

That special edition, by the way, angered a network rival. ABC scheduled
the special to air Wednesday opposite NBC's game show, "Twenty One." Regis
Philbin's game crushed NBC's newcomer, 28.3 million viewers to 8.3 million
viewers.

NBC Entertainment President Garth Ancier later told The New York Times that
ABC's special "Millionaire" was a "cheap shot."

"If they continue to do this, at some point they can do tremendous damage
to this business," Ancier said.

Judging by last week's ratings, "Millionaire" has much less impact on more
established shows that air in the same time slot. That's an indication that
the quiz is bringing in a lot of new viewers.

For instance, Fox's Sunday airing of "The X-Files" was actually up 500,000
viewers from its season average. "Missing Pieces," CBS' Sunday movie from
this week, was only 400,000 viewers off CBS' average for its weekly movie.

CBS' "JAG," which was also shown opposite the special "Millionaire" last
Wednesday, was down 500,000 viewers from its average. And NBC's "Frasier,"
though it has clearly been hurt by "Millionaire" this season, was last
week's No. 8 prime-time show.

For the week, ABC led with 15.9 million average prime-time viewers (10.2
rating, 17 share). CBS (8.8 rating, 14 share) and NBC (8.7, 14) both had
12.5 million viewers. Fox had 8.5 million viewers (5.5, 9).

UPN led the mini-networks and has slipped by its rival, the WB, in average
viewership this season. Last week, UPN had 4.2 million viewers (2.9 rating,
5 share), the WB had 3.6 million viewers (2.7, 4) and Pax TV had 1 million
viewers (0.8, 1)

NBC's "Nightly News" led the evening news competition with 11.7 million
viewers (8.6 rating, 17 share), ABC's "World News Tonight" had 11 million
viewers (7.9, 15) and the "CBS Evening News" had 9.2 million viewers (6.8,
13).

A rating point represents 1,008,000 households, or 1 percent of the
nation's estimated 100.8 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of
in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

Here are the prime-time ratings as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for
Jan. 31-Feb. 6:

1. "ER," NBC.

1. "Who Wants To be a Millionaire," ABC.

3. "Who Wants To be a Millionaire," ABC.

4. "Who Wants To be a Millionaire," ABC.

5. "Who Wants To be a Millionaire," ABC.

6. "Friends," NBC.

7. "The Practice," ABC.

8. "Frasier," NBC.

9. "Touched by an Angel," CBS.

10. "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS.

11. "Jesse," NBC.

12. "60 Minutes," CBS.

13. "Drew Carey Show," ABC.

14. "CBS Sunday Movie: Missing Pieces."

14. "NYPD Blue," ABC.

16. "Becker," CBS.

17. "48 Hours," CBS.

18. "Law and Order," NBC.

19. "Stark Raving Mad," NBC.

20. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," NBC.

21. "Dharma & Greg," ABC.

22. "Providence," NBC.

23. "Diagnosis Murder," CBS.

24. "Dateline NBC" (Friday).

24. "Spin City," ABC.

26. "JAG," CBS.

27. "60 Minutes II," CBS.

28. "Malcolm in the Middle," Fox.

29. "The Simpsons," Fox.

30. "ABC Monday Night Movie: Volcano."

31. "20/20 Downtown," ABC.

32. "Judging Amy," CBS.

33. "King of Queens," CBS.

34. "The X-Files," Fox.

35. "Sports Night," ABC.

36. "20/20" (Friday), ABC.

36. "Whose Line Is It Anyway?," ABC.

38. "Ladies Man," CBS.

39. "49th Annual Miss USA Pageant," CBS.

40. "CBS Wednesday Night Movie: In the Name of the People."

40. "Third Watch," NBC.

42. "NBC Sunday Night Movie: Face/Off."

42. "The West Wing," NBC.

44. "The Others," NBC.

45. "ABC Saturday Night Movie: The Rock."

46. "48 Hours," CBS.

46. "Chicago Hope," CBS.

46. "Once and Again," ABC.

46. "Walker, Texas Ranger," CBS.

50. "Dateline NBC" (Monday).

50. "Will & Grace," NBC.

52. "The Pretender," NBC.

52. "Profiler," NBC.

54. "ABC Big Picture Show: Flubber."

55. "Dateline NBC" (Tuesday).

55. "Kids Say the Darndest Things," CBS.

57. "Veronica's Closet," NBC.

57. "Whose Line is It Anyway?," ABC.

59. "Greed," Fox.

60. "Ally McBeal," Fox.

60. "World's Most Amazing Videos," NBC.

62. "Twenty One," NBC.

63. "7th Heaven," WB.

64. "Freaks and Geeks," NBC.

64. "World's Wildest Police Videos," Fox.

66. "COPS 2: Indianapolis," Fox.

66. "King of the Hill," Fox.

68. "Martial Law," CBS.

68. "That '70s Show," Fox.

68. "That '70s Show," Fox.

68. "Winning Lines," CBS.

72. "City of Angels," CBS.

72. "Winning Lines," CBS.

74. "AMW: America Fights Back," Fox.

75. "Candid Camera," CBS.

76. "Ally McBeal," Fox.

76. "Just Shoot Me," NBC.

78. "COPS: Albuquerque," Fox.

79. "On Thin Ice," Fox.

80. ABC News Special: Searching for the Promised Land."

80. "WWF Smackdown," UPN.

82. "3rd Rock From the Sun," NBC.

83. "Futurama," Fox.

84. "Fox Thursday Night Movie: Dumb and Dumber."

84. "Party of Five," Fox.

86. "Star Trek: Voyager," UPN.

87. "Charmed," WB.

88. "Get Real," Fox.

89. "Dawson's Creek," WB.

90. "Blockbuster Cinema: Striking Distance," UPN.

90. "Popular," WB.

92. "The Parkers," UPN.

92. "Roswell," WB.

94. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," WB.

94. "The Steve Harvey Show," WB.

96. "Felicity," WB.

96. "Malcolm & Eddie," UPN.

98. "Angel," WB.

98. "Grown Ups," UPN.

98. "Jack & Jill," WB.

98. "The Jamie Foxx Show," WB.

98. "Moesha," UPN.

98. "Zoe," WB.

104. "7 Days," UPN.

104. "7th Heaven," WB.

104. "The Jamie Foxx Show," WB.

107. "For Your Love," WB.

108. "I Dare You!" UPN.

109. "Brutally Normal," WB.

109. "Dilbert," UPN.

109. "Shasta," UPN.

112. "Diagnosis Murder," Pax.

112. "Diagnosis Murder," Pax.

114. "Diagnosis Murder," Pax.

115. "Diagnosis Murder," Pax.

115. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.

115. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.

118. "It's a Miracle," Pax.

118. "Promise," Pax.

118. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.

121. "It's a Miracle," Pax.

121. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.

123. "Diagnosis Murder," Pax.

123. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.

123. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.

126. "It's a Miracle," Pax.

127. "Chicken Soup for the Soul," Pax.

127. "Destination Stardom," Pax..

127. "Hope Island," Pax.

130. "Little Men," Pax.

130. "PAX TV Three-Hanky Movie: To My Daughter."

130. "Twice in a Lifetime," Pax.

Nielsen Ratings

Ratings run Monday - Sunday, use the links below to look for any week.

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