CBS Wins November Sweeps
CBS claimed its best performance during the November sweeps since 1980, even after canceling "The Reagans" and a Michael Jackson special.
Not only has CBS dominated its closest rival, NBC, by more than 3 million viewers a night on average, it improved over last year while ABC, NBC and Fox all slipped.
The November sweeps, when ratings are closely monitored to set local advertising rates, are the first big test of the new TV season.
The two embarrassing cancellations barely broke CBS' stride. The network scrapped a two-night TV movie on Ronald and Nancy Reagan under political pressure, claiming it was unbalanced. And it swiftly ditched a Jackson special when the pop star was charged with child molestation.
"We're a football team (that) got thrown for a minor loss in the middle of the game," said CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves. "But we got up and won the game by 45 points."
Moonves was annoyed during a conference call with reporters when he was repeatedly asked about "The Reagans," preferring instead to talk about his network's triumph.
"I know this sounds like bragging, but we have so many good stories to report, I don't know where to begin," he said.
CBS' victory can be traced most directly to the performance of its Sunday movies, which did twice as well as last year's movies, said NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker. "The Elizabeth Smart Story" and this week's "Fallen Angel," which had 17.4 million viewers, were strongest.
NBC claimed a win in the 18-to-49-year-old ratings, which it says is the only demographic it cares about. CBS was second. NBC, ABC and Fox all had double-digit losses from last November in that demographic.
"We congratulate CBS," said Gail Berman, Fox's entertainment president. "For the rest of the networks, the month of November hasn't been as pleasant."
Fox was burned by the failure of "Joe Millionaire," upon which it was counting to help carry two nights of the week. When the reality series tanked, it took the scripted series, "Skin," with it. Fox was particularly disappointed that its strong postseason baseball ratings had no lasting effect.
NBC has been hurt by the aging of some of its stalwart shows, and a failure to develop replacement hits.
ABC is encouraged that its comedies are slowly drawing an audience but it, too, has no breakout hit.
"We really are looking to rebuild the schedule for the long term and to do that, we have to stand behind the promising young shows," said ABC's top entertainment executive, Lloyd Braun.
For the week that ended Sunday, CBS averaged 14.2 million viewers (9.3 rating, 15 share). NBC had 11.6 million (7.8, 12). ABC had its best week since last spring, fueled by "The Bachelor," averaging 10.7 million viewers (7.0, 11).
Fox averaged 6.8 million (4.4, 7), UPN had 4.4 million (2.9, 5), the WB 4.4 million (2.9, 4) and Pax TV 1 million (0.7, 1).
NBC's "Nightly News" won the evening news ratings race, averaging 11 million viewers (7.7 rating, 15 share). ABC's "World News Tonight" had 10.5 million (7.4, 14) and the "CBS Evening News" had 8.1 million (5.9, 11).
A ratings point represents 1,084,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 108.4 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.
For the week of Nov. 17-23, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 26.6 million; "ER," NBC, 23.4 million; "Friends," NBC, 20.7 million; "Friends" special, NBC, 19.9 million; "Survivor: Pearl Islands," CBS, 19.9 million; "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 19.4 million; "CSI: Miami," CBS, 18.9 million; "The Bachelor," ABC, 18.6 million; "60 Minutes," CBS, 18 million; "Law & Order," NBC, 17.5 million.
By David Bauder