March’s New Series Give Networks a Chill

The weather may be warming up, but this month’s new prime-time series have generally received a cool reception from TV viewers thus far, according to results for last week issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

NBC won the week behind strong ratings for its Thursday comedies and “Law & Order,” which kicked off a three-part story in “ER’s” time slot.

New programs continue to struggle, however, including ABC’s “Arsenio” and “The Practice,” which each experienced an audience decline of more than 20% compared to their premiere ratings. NBC has already abruptly canceled one new show, “Prince Street.”

NCAA tournament coverage scored season-high ratings for CBS among young male viewers, but wall-to-wall basketball also inspired a few more people to sample Thursday and Friday shows, such as the ABC medical show “Vital Signs” and the NBC drama “Crisis Center,” which each delivered best-yet ratings in their three airings.

“Suddenly Susan,” starring Brooke Shields, is also looking like a better fit for NBC at 8:30 p.m. Thursdays, retaining 91% of the audience that watched “Friends” last week.

CBS’ “Stolen Women, Captured Hearts,” which starred Janine Turner, easily won the Sunday movie race, as the Tori Spelling movie “Alibi” ran fourth on ABC.

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National Nielsen Viewership

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

Last Week

NBC 14.2 million

CBS 12.6

ABC 12.3

FOX 11.1

UPN 4.93

WB 4.14

Season to Date

NBC 15.5 million

CBS 13.9

ABC 13.8

FOX 12.2

UPN 4.53

WB 3.69

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 Network Viewers 1. Seinfeld KNBC 1,235,610 2. Friends KNBC 988,488 3. Law & Order KNBC 953,891 4. The X-Files KTTV 939,064 5. The Naked Truth KNBC 924,236 6. Suddenly Susan KNBC 859,985 7. 60 Minutes KCBS 850,100 8. Home Improvement KABC 751,251 9. The Simpsons KTTV 716,654 10. 20/20 KABC 701,826

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