TV Ratings : Basketball Helps NBC Score Prime-Time Victory

With the NBA finals drawing big crowds, NBC bounced to a prime-time victory over its rivals last week, the A.C. Nielsen Co. reported Tuesday. The first three games of the basketball championship were among the week’s five highest-rated programs.

NBC said that so far, this matchup between the Charles Barkley-led Phoenix Suns and the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls is the No. 1 NBA championship series of all time. Game 3 on Sunday, which went into triple overtime, was the top-rated

program of the week--seen in about 15.8 million households. The network said its ratings for the three games were 19% higher than for the first three contests last year.

NBC’s new entertainment offerings did not fare as well. Both “Route 66” and “South Beach” ran third in their time periods Tuesday night. But the news division’s interview with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday attracted viewers in about 10.3 million homes and won its time period.

Southland Ratings

Here are A. C. Nielsen’s Top 10 prime-time programs in the Los Angeles area during the same week. Each rating point equals 49,657 households.

Program Station Rating 1. Roseanne KABC 16.2 2. Home Improvement KABC 15.3 3. Martin KTTV 15.1 4. The Simpsons KTTV 14.6 5. 20/20 KABC 12.5 6. Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper KABC 12.3 7. 60 Minutes KCBS 12.1 Married ... With Children KTTV 12.1 Coach KABC 12.1 10. Full House KABC 12.0

Weekly Averages

NBC: 11.5

CBS: 9.6

ABC: 8.7

FOX: 5.4