National Nielsen Viewership

Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (Dec. 21-27) 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. Monday Night Football ESPN 10.6 2. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) USA 5.30 3. Wrestling (Mon., 8 p.m.) TNT 5.00 4. “Garden of Good/Evil” HBO 4.79 5. NFL Primetime ESPN 4.48 6. Wrestling (Sun., 7 p.m.) USA 4.35 7. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) USA 4.34 8. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) TNT 4.22 9. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) TNT 4.21 10. Oahu Bowl ESPN 3.90

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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 11.66 million 13.12 ABC 11.08 12.23 NBC 9.08 12.47 FOX 7.52 10.59 WB 3.61 4.55 UPN 2.58 2.75

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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. 60 Minutes KCBS 801,076 2. Ally McBeal KTTV 631,617 3. “Barbara Walters Special” KABC 554,591 4. Just Shoot Me KNBC 534,050 5. The X-Files KTTV 518,645 6. Touched by an Angel KCBS 508,375 7. 20/20 (Sun.) KABC 487,835 Home Improvement KABC 487,835 9. “Monday Night Live” KABC 477,564 10. “I.Q.” KNBC 467,294 Will & Grace KNBC 467,294

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