‘Deaf Man,’ ‘Bella’ Lead CBS to Victory

The “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation “What the Deaf Man Heard” made plenty of noise on CBS Sunday, scoring the highest made-for-TV movie rating since “Sarah, Plain and Tall” in 1991, based on results issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

“Deaf Man,” starring Matthew Modine, and the conclusion of miniseries “Bella Mafia” helped propel CBS to its highest weekly rating this season and to the November sweeps lead.

Sunday’s other star was the Tim Allen movie “The Santa Clause,” which delivered ABC’s biggest “Wonderful World of Disney” audience except for “Cinderella.”

Michael J. Fox’s “Family Ties” reunion with Meredith Baxter gave ABC’s “Spin City” its strongest Wednesday performance so far, while a “Spin” rerun Tuesday after “Home Improvement” contributed to the season-low rating posted by NBC’s “Just Shoot Me” in that slot. “Bella Mafia” also roughed up “NYPD Blue”--dropping the veteran ABC police show to its lowest rating ever for an original episode.

NBC’s “Seinfeld” backward episode and “Friends” moved forward to their highest ratings since September. Fox’s “Ally McBeal” also nabbed its biggest audience yet, for the first time drawing more people than “Melrose Place” in the preceding hour.

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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.

Last Week

CBS: 16.75 million

NBC: 14.94

ABC: 13.05

FOX: 11.10

UPN: 4.98

WB: 4.81

Season to Date

NBC: 15.69 million

CBS: 14.17

ABC: 13.25

FOX: 10.92

UPN: 4.73

WB: 4.35

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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. Seinfeld KNBC 1,387,557 2. ER KNBC 1,217,243 3. Friends KNBC 1,051,938 4. Friends (8:30 p.m.) KNBC 1,046,929 5. Veronica’s Closet KNBC 1,036,911 6. “What the Deaf Man Heard” KCBS 996,837 7. The X-Files KTTV 886,634 8. Touched by an Angel KCBS 831,533 9. Frasier KNBC 821,514 10. 60 Minutes KCBS 806,486

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Source: Nielsen Media Research