Love for ‘Raymond,’ Sunday Lineup Benefits CBS

“Everybody Loves Raymond” and the drama “Undue Influence” paced CBS to another weekly ratings win, based on viewing estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

Even in reruns, “Raymond’s” success this summer represents a breakthrough for CBS, which hasn’t had a sitcom finish No. 1 for the week since “Murphy Brown” did so in 1992. “Influence,” meanwhile, starring Brian Dennehy, combined with “60 Minutes” and “Touched by an Angel” to continue the network’s Sunday night dominance.

Beyond the 15 hours of prime-time newsmagazines scheduled last week, original network offerings were few. Those presented were generally of the low-cost variety, such as NBC’s new reality program “You Asked for It” and ABC’s special “Paris Fashion Collections.”

The major networks continue to use the summer to showcase reruns and gradually begin shifting series into the time slots they will occupy in the fall. The latest migrant, NBC’s “Veronica’s Closet,” appears to miss its cushy Thursday digs already, landing with a resounding thud in the show’s new Monday berth following “Suddenly Susan.”

National Nielsen Viewership

Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (July 26-Aug. 1) as compiled by Nielsen Media Research. They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish. Nielsen estimates that there are 256.6 million potential U.S. viewers age 2 and older. Viewership is listed here in millions.

Cable Top 10

Here are Nielsen’s top 10 cable programs in prime time last week, also ranked by total viewers (in millions).

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Program Network Viewers 1. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) USA 8.35 2. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) USA 7.80 3. Wrestling (Sun., 7 p.m.) USA 4.66 4. Wrestling (Mon., 8 p.m.) TNT 4.20 5. Sex and the City HBO 3.79 6. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) TNT 3.44 7. Wrestling (Thur., 9 p.m.) TBS 3.42 8. “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” HBO 3.33 9. The Real World MTV 3.26 10. “I Love Trouble” USA 3.19

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Network Averages

Here is the number of viewers that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season.

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Last week Season to date CBS 9.15 million 12.18 NBC 8.53 11.84 ABC 7.60 10.93 FOX 6.69 9.73 WB 3.05 4.19 UPN 1.85 2.58

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Southland Viewing

Here are Nielsen’s Top 10 prime-time programs in the Los Angeles area during the same week. The rankings are based on the number of households watching.

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Program Station Households 1. Frasier (9 p.m.) KNBC 616,212 2. Friends KNBC 611,077 3. Frasier (9:30 p.m.) KNBC 559,726 4. 20/20 (Mon.) KABC 528,915 5. Ally McBeal KTTV 523,780 6. Jesse KNBC 503,240 7. Will & Grace KNBC 472,429 8. 60 Minutes KCBS 451,889 9. The Drew Carey Show KABC 446,754 10. Dateline: NBC (Wed.) KNBC 436,484

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