NEW YORK -- NBC rolled up its 62nd straight win in the Nielsen ratings race last week and a repeat of the pilot for 'Baywatch,' one of the network's upcoming series, made the top 10, it was reported Tuesday.
'Baywatch,' about the lives and loves of a coed California lifeguard crew, finished seventh -- the best NBC Monday movie ratings performance since 'Roe vs. Wade' on May 15, the network announced.
That's particularly good news for NBC because in the new season 'Baywatch' will lead off Friday nights for the network -- and Friday is the only night of the week that is a disaster zone for NBC. The show premieres Sept. 22.
For whatever it may mean, CBS was second in the time period with its Monday comedy lineup, while ABC was only a close third with preseason NFL football, the Redskins vs. the Vikings.
Fox Broadcasting had reason to celebrate -- an original episode of its 'Married...With Children' finished in a tie for 17th with a repeat of NBC's 'Empty Nest' and achieved the highest rating ever for a Fox show.
The premiere of 'America's Most Wanted' was less impressive but respectable in 45th place and the season debut of its new 'Open House,' a revamped version of 'Duet,' came in 47th.
More good news for NBC -- it's latest stab at a news magazine, 'Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,' tied for 32nd but was able to hold the Wednesday night time period against 'Wiseguy' on CBS and 'China Beach' on ABC. ABC's 'Primetime Live' news show ranked 46th, down from 44th the previous week.
Even NBC can't bat 1.000. It's new limited series, 'FM,' which finished fifth the previous week, this time landed in a tie for 37th. Its lead-in show, 'Night Court,' was in 10th place.
CBS walked away with the Sunday movie contest, with 'Tricks Of The Trade' in 12th place -- the highest ranked CBS show of the week. NBC's busted pilot, 'L.A. Takedown' was in 42nd and ABC's 'The Gladiator' was 51st.
For the week ending Aug. 27, NBC had an 11.4 rating and a 21 share. ABC was second with a 9.7 rating and an 18 share, and CBS was right behind with a 9.6 rating and an 18 share.
CBS improved its lead in the news race, with 'CBS Evening News' with Dan Rather No. 1 with a 9.7 rating and a 21 share. ABC's 'World News Tonight' with Peter Jennings trailed with an 8.5 rating and a 19 share, while 'NBC Nightly News' with Tom Brokaw was third with an 8.0 rating and an 18 share.
Each ratings point represents about 921,000 households and a share is the percentage of TV sets tuned to a particular show.
The top 10 programs for the week ending Sunday, Aug. 27, according to the A.C. Nielsen Co., were:
1. Roseanne (ABC)
2. Cheers (NBC)
3. A Different World (NBC)
4. (tie) The Cosby Show (NBC)
Dear John (NBC)
6. The Wonder Years (ABC)
7. (tie) Baywatch: Panic At Malibu Beach (NBC)
Who's The Boss? (ABC)
9. Mr. Belvedere (ABC)
10.
