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THE NIELSENS
Cliffhanger a miracle drug for `ER' ratings
ASSOCIATED PRESS
17-Feb-2000 Thursday
`ER" fans tuned into NBC's hospital drama last week to follow the fates
of
two favorite characters, enabling the show to reclaim the top spot from
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."
"ER" ended its ratings sweeps-month episode in a cliffhanger after the
characters portrayed by Noah Wyle and Kellie Martin were stabbed and left
clinging to life. Since Martin has announced that she's leaving the series,
it's wise not to place bets on her survival.
The episode drew 31 million viewers, well above the "ER" season
average of
24 million.
Not that there's anything wrong with "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,"
which
led ABC to another weekly win. The game show kept humming along, drawing
more than 30 million viewers twice last week and nearly 28 million a third
time.
CBS' "60 Minutes" had its best ratings of the year, after it reran a
profile of "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz on Sunday night, less than
24
hours after he died.
Two movies performed well last week: ABC's "Mary and Rhoda" reunion
drew 17
million viewers, and CBS' re-enactment of Thomas Jefferson's romance with
Sally Hemings had 19 million watchers.
ABC's "The Practice" continued the ratings momentum it generated with
its
post-Super Bowl episode. The news, though, wasn't as good for another
long-running ABC drama, "NYPD Blue," which for the first time lost in
its
time slot to CBS' "Judging Amy."
For the week, ABC had 14.9 million viewers (9.9 rating, 16 share). NBC was
second with 13.5 million viewers (9.3 rating, 15 share), and beat ABC among
18-to-49-year-olds. CBS had 12.9 million (8.9, 14), Fox had 9.7 million
(6.4, 10), UPN had 4.3 million (2.9, 5), the WB had 3.9 million (2.8, 4),
and Pax TV had 1 million (0.8, 1).
NBC's "Nightly News" led the evening news competition with 11.2
million
viewers (8.3 rating, 16 share), ABC's "World News Tonight" had 10.9
million
viewers (8.0, 16) and the "CBS Evening News" had 9.8 million viewers
(7.2,
14).
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
Feb. 7-13:
1. "ER," NBC.
2. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," ABC.
3. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," ABC.
4. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," ABC.
5. "Friends," NBC.
6. "60 Minutes," CBS.
7. "Frasier," NBC.
8. "CBS Sunday Movie: Sally Hemings, American Scandal -- Part 1."
9. "ABC Monday Night Movie: Mary and Rhoda."
10. "The Practice," ABC.
10. "Touched by an Angel," CBS.
12. "Frasier," NBC.
12. "Law & Order," NBC.
14. "Jesse," NBC.
15. "Dharma & Greg," ABC.
16. "Providence," NBC.
17. "Dateline NBC" (Tuesday).
17. "The Simpsons," Fox.
19. "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS.
20. "Judging Amy," CBS.
21. "JAG," CBS.
22. "Ally McBeal," Fox.
22. "Will & Grace," NBC.
24. "Malcolm in the Middle," Fox.
25. "NYPD Blue," ABC.
26. "60 Minutes II," CBS.
27. "West Wing," NBC.
27. "Will & Grace," NBC.
29. "Diagnosis Murder," CBS.
30. "Becker," CBS.
31. "Drew Carey Show," ABC.
31. "NBC Sunday Night Movie: Homicide: The Movie."
31. "Twenty One," NBC.
34. "20/20 -- Downtown," ABC.
34. "The X-Files," Fox.
36. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," NBC.
37. "Dateline" (Friday).
38. "CBS Wednesday Movie: A Vision of Murder."
39. "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" ABC.
40. "Third Watch," NBC.
41. "Spin City," ABC.
42. "20/20" (Wednesday), ABC.
42. "Nash Bridges," CBS.
44. "20/20" (Friday), ABC.
44. "Family Law," CBS.
46. "King of Queens," CBS.
46. "Once and Again," ABC.
48. "Two Guys and a Girl," ABC.
48. "U.S. Figure Skating Championship," ABC.
48. "Walker, Texas Ranger," CBS.
51. "Sports Night," ABC.
52. "Wonderful World of Disney: 101 Dalmatians," ABC.
53. "Greed," Fox.
53. "Ladies Man," CBS.
55. "Norm," ABC.
56. "NBA Basketball All-Star Game," NBC.
57. "Good Grief, Charlie Brown: A Tribute to Charles Schultz," CBS.
57. "Now and Again," CBS.
59. "The Pretender," NBC.
60. "Just Shoot Me," NBC.
60. "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," ABC.
62. "AMW: America Fights Back," Fox.
62. "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" ABC.
64. "Boy Meets World," ABC.
64. "City of Angels," CBS.
64. "King of the Hill," Fox.
67. "3rd Rock From the Sun," NBC.
67. "COPS 2: Fort Worth," Fox.
67. "The Others," NBC.
70. "Dateline NBC" (Monday).
71. "48 Hours," CBS.
71. "Martial Law," CBS.
71. "That '70s Show," Fox.
71. "That '70s Show," Fox.
75. "Chicago Hope," CBS.
76. "The Hughleys," ABC.
77. "World's Wildest Police Videos," Fox.
78. "America's Funniest Home Videos," ABC.
78. "Profiler," NBC.
78. "TV Guide Sitcom Scandal 3," Fox.
81. "World's Sexiest Commercials 2," Fox.
82. "COPS: Albuquerque," Fox.
83. "Beverly Hills, 90210," Fox.
83. "Fox Thursday Night Movie: The Lost World: Jurassic Park."
83. "WWF Smackdown!" UPN.
86. "Winning Lines," CBS.
87. "7th Heaven," WB.
87. "Freaks and Geeks," NBC.
87. "Futurama," Fox.
90. "Candid Camera," CBS.
91. "Party of Five," Fox.
91. "Star Trek: Voyager," UPN.
93. "Charmed," WB.
94. "Angel," WB.
95. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," WB.
96. "Dawson's Creek," WB.
97. "The Parkers," UPN.
98. "Moesha," UPN.
99. "Felicity," WB.
99. "Grown-Ups," UPN.
101. "Popular," WB.
101. "Roswell," WB.
101. "The Steve Harvey Show," WB.
104. "7 Days," UPN.
104. "Malcolm & Eddie," UPN.
106. "7th Heaven Beginnings," WB.
106. "The Jamie Foxx Show," WB.
108. "For Your Love," WB.
108. "Jack & Jill," WB.
110. "Jamie Foxx Show1," WB.
111. "Blockbuster Cinema: Operation Sandman," UPN.
111. "Zoe," WB.
113. "I Dare You!" UPN.
114. "Brutally Normal," WB.
114. "Dilbert," UPN.
114. "Shasta," UPN.
117. "Diagnosis Murder," Pax.
117. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.
119. "Diagnosis Murder," Pax.
119. "Diagnosis Murder," Pax.
121. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.
122. "Diagnosis Murder," Pax.
122. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.
122 "Touched by an Angel," Pax.
125. "It's a Miracle," Pax.
125. "It's a Miracle," Pax.
127. "Diagnosis Murder," Pax.
127. "It's a Miracle," Pax.
129. "Chicken Soup for the Soul," Pax.
129. "Destination Stardom," Pax.
129. "Little Men," Pax.
129. "PAXTV Three-Hanky Movie: Tears in the Rain."
129. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.
129. "Touched by an Angel," Pax.
129. "Twice in a Lifetime," Pax.
136. "Baja, Oklahoma," Pax.
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