TV RATINGS : Hero Worship Helps Propel ABC

America loves a hero, and it evidently has one in Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf. His appearance on “20/20” last Friday sent the show’s ratings soaring, figures from the A.C. Nielsen Co. showed Tuesday. The ABC magazine ranked third among the week’s 86 prime-time programs and was seen in about 17.1 million homes--nearly 50% more than it has been averaging this season. That provided ABC with the boost to eke out a win over NBC for the week as a whole, although NBC remained in first in the season standings. The full list of ratings is on F9.

*Ratings for CBS’ coverage of the NCAA basketball playoffs jumped dramatically on Sunday. The first three nights of the tournament drew poorly--with only about 7.3 million homes tuning in. But with defending champion and No. 1-ranked Nevada Las Vegas on the bill Sunday against Georgetown in the second round of the West Regional, the audience zoomed to 15.2 million homes (and UNLV remained undefeated, 62-54). In between those two showings for college basketball was the World Figure Skating Championships on NBC, which drew about 9 million homes on both Saturday and Sunday.

Show Points Share 1. “Cheers” (NBC) 20.1 31 2. “Roseanne” (ABC) 19.6 30 3. “20/20” (ABC) 18.4 34 4. “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (ABC) 18.2 28 5. “A Different World” (NBC) 18.1 29 * “NCAA Basketball Championships” (CBS) 16.3 30