TV RATINGS : ABC Comes on Strong

Stephen King and Barbara Walters helped propel ABC to a strong performance in the prime-time ratings last week, the A.C. Nielsen Co. reported Tuesday. ABC finished second for the week, only 1/10th of a point behind NBC. That lifted the network into a tie for second with CBS in the season-to-date ratings. While NBC and CBS programs captured the top five positions on the list of last week’s most-watched shows, ABC placed sixth with the first installment of the King miniseries “It,” and seventh with Walters’ celebrity interview special. The full list of ratings is on F16.

* Fox has a big problem on Thursdays. “The Simpsons” is running strong at 8 p.m., but the network can’t seem to hold the audience for what follows. With “Babes” losing, on average, 45% of the “Simpsons” crowd, Fox tried out “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose” last week to see if it could do better. The result: “Parker Lewis” lost about 47% of the audience. For once, however, Fox was spared seeing one of its shows at the bottom of the ratings. That distinction went to CBS’ “The Hogan Family,” viewed in only 4.6 million homes, compared to about 21.4 million for NBC’s top-ranked “Cheers.”

Show Points Share 1. “Cheers” (NBC) 23.0 35 2. “60 Minutes” (CBS) 22.2 34 3. “NFL Football” (CBS) 20.3 35 4. “The Big One, Part 2” (NBC) 19.5 30 5. “A Different World” (NBC) 18.8 29 * “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose” (Fox) 7.6 12