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  America calls
for 'Law & Order'

The times, perhaps? Trio bolsters weaker shows.

By Toni Fitzgerald

    The comfort of a clear-cut good guys versus bad guys premise certainly connects with an audience when the country’s about to begin a war.
   NBC aired seven episodes of “Law & Order” in one form or another last week, most of them repeats. Four ranked in the top 25 among adults 18-49.
   All of them finished in the top 75, above such fresh fare as NBC’s “Mister Sterling,” the WB’s “Angel” and Fox’s “NAACP Image Awards.”
   The “Law & Order” franchise has become the network’s most reliable dramatic trio. The shows have helped make up for the free fall of “West Wing” among 18-49s while also patching a massive scheduling hole Saturday nights.
   The original Wednesday 10 p.m. “Law & Order” still wins its time slot among households and 18-49s most weeks, even when facing ABC’s seemingly more hip “Celebrity Mole.” Back-to-back shows Wednesday, pre-empting “West Wing,” averaged a 5.1 adult 18-49 rating.
   “Law & Order: SVU,” the second of the bunch to debut, is Friday night’s most-watched program among 18-49s and households.
   It was the highest-ranking of any of the “L&O” shows last week, finishing tied for 13 despite having the least desirable time slot, Friday at 10 p.m. “SVU” ranked as the No. 4 drama last week among 18-49s, behind CBS’s “CSI” and “CSI: Miami” and NBC’s “ER.”
   “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” at 9 p.m. Sundays has been a hit ever since it began last year. Now it’s having an even more desirable effect – lifting the 10 p.m. “Boomtown” to better ratings the past four weeks.
   “Boomtown” finished tied for 29 last week, the new episode retaining 91 percent of “Criminal Intent’s” 18-49 audience.
   Still, the Sunday bounce hasn’t helped the 8 p.m. NBC show, “American Dreams.” The freshman drama, considered an even chance for renewal, didn’t boost its chances with just a 3.5 adult 18-49 rating last week for a new episode.
   After six straight weeks at No. 1 in the weekly adults 18-49 network rankings, Fox finally finished second.
   NBC, the season-to-date leader in the category, prevailed by a scant .2 rating points with a 4.7 average. Regrouping from a disappointing February sweeps, the network has seen its season-to-date average stall at 4.6 among young adults as Fox’s steadily climbs, now to 4.2.
   New episodes of Thursday’s lineup helped lift NBC, in a week where CBS (except for “Survivor”) was in repeats.
   In its second week, Fox’s “Oliver Beene” dropped from its debut average, when it retained 100 percent of its lead-in “Simpsons” audience. In the 8:30 Sunday spot, “Beene” averaged a 5.1, retaining a still-respectable 88 percent.
   A Wednesday “American Idol” lead-in has given a huge boost to Fox’s “Bernie Mac” and “Cedric the Entertainer Presents.”
   The two comedies both finished in the top 30 among 18-49s for the first time since the fall.
   CBS’s “My Big Fat Greek Life” slipped to No. 49 among 18-49s last week. The show remains very popular among households, though, where it has ranked in the top 25 every outing since its debut.

PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK
Ranked on Households
Week Ending March 16


Network

Households*

People 2+

Adults 18-49

Rtg%

(000)

Shr

Rtg%

(000)

Shr

Rtg%

(000)

Shr

CBS

8.2

8750

13

4.6

12400

12

3.7

4730

10

NBC

7.9

8420

13

4.4

11890

11

4.7

6110

13

FOX

6.2

6590

10

3.7

10030

9

4.5

5830

12

ABC

4.9

5200

8

2.9

7790

7

2.8

3650

8

WB

2.1

2200

3

1.1

3110

3

1.4

1770

4

UPN

1.7

1830

3

0.9

2570

2

1.0

1340

3

PAX

0.7

790

1

0.4

1040

1

0.3

330

1

* Each rating point is equivalent to 1.067 million homes
Source: Nielsen Media Research



SEASON-TO-DATE PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK
Ranked on Households
Week Ending March 16


Network

Households* 

People 2+

Adults 18-49

Rtg%

(000)

Shr

Rtg%

(000)

Shr

Rtg%

(000)

Shr

CBS

8.4

9010

14

4.7

12880

12

4.0

5110

11

NBC

7.8

8330

13

4.3

11830

11

4.6

5870

12

ABC

6.5

6980

11

3.8

10450

10

4.0

5130

11

FOX

6.1

6470

10

3.6

9920

9

4.2

5430

11

WB

2.7

2850

4

1.6

4260

4

1.8

2360

5

UPN

2.3

2460

4

1.3

3630

3

1.5

1970

4

PAX

0.9

910

1

0.4

1210

1

0.3

390

1

* Each rating point is equivalent to 1.067 million homes
Source: Nielsen Media Research


 

NETWORK TV
Ranked on Households
Week Ending March 16, 2003


#

PROGRAMS

Net

HOUSEHOLDS

PERSONS 2+

Rtg%

Shr

(000)

RANK

Rtg%

(000)

1

CSI

CBS

17.4

26

18618

1

10.5

28601

2

E.R.

NBC

13.7

23

14652

3

7.7

20915

3

FRIENDS

NBC

13.5

21

14428

3

7.7

21000

4

AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY

FOX

13.3

21

14183

2

8.1

22011

5

CSI: MIAMI

CBS

12.9

21

13739

7

7.0

18951

6

EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND

CBS

12.4

18

13283

6

7.2

19475

6

SURVIVOR: AMAZON

CBS

12.4

19

13191

3

7.7

21055

8

LAW AND ORDER:SVU

NBC

11.5

20

12238

10

6.2

16994

9

AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY

FOX

10.7

17

11376

8

6.7

18302

10

LAW AND ORDER

NBC

10.4

17

11067

14

5.5

14967

11

FEAR FACTOR

NBC

10.3

16

11040

8

6.7

18304

11

STILL STANDING

CBS

10.3

16

11017

11

5.8

15863

13

SCRUBS

NBC

10.1

15

10796

12

5.7

15636

13

WITHOUT A TRACE

CBS

10.1

17

10825

12

5.7

15382

15

WILL & GRACE

NBC

10.0

15

10672

14

5.5

15009

16

60 MINUTES

CBS

9.4

16

10078

17

5.0

13683

17

48 HOURS INVESTIGATES

CBS

9.2

15

9854

19

4.9

13195

18

KING OF QUEENS

CBS

9.1

14

9657

16

5.2

14037

19

YES, DEAR

CBS

8.9

13

9466

17

5.0

13468

20

LAW & ORDER 3/12(S)

NBC

8.7

13

9328

21

4.6

12459

21

GOOD MORNING MIAMI

NBC

8.6

13

9132

21

4.6

12571

22

MY BIG FAT GREEK LIFE

CBS

8.3

13

8905

21

4.6

12388

23

LAW AND ORDER:CRIM INTENT

NBC

8.2

12

8797

21

4.6

12631

24

60 MINUTES II - 9PM

CBS

8.1

12

8670

25

4.5

12224

24

DATELINE FRI

NBC

8.1

14

8616

30

4.2

11516

24

JAG

CBS

8.1

13

8688

25

4.5

12134

Source: Nielsen Media Research



TOP 30 PROGRAMS - BROADCAST TV
Adults 18-49
Week Ending March
16


Rank

Program

Net

Rtg%

In Millions

1

CSI

CBS

10.3

13.24

2

AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY

FOX

10.3

13.22

3

FRIENDS

NBC

10.0

12.87

4

ER

NBC

9.9

12.77

5

AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY

FOX

8.7

11.22

6

SURVIVOR: AMAZON

CBS

8.1

10.38

7

FEAR FACTOR

NBC

8.0

10.31

8

SCRUBS

NBC

7.7

9.84

8

WILL & GRACE

NBC

7.7

9.85

10

CSI: MIAMI

CBS

7.0

8.94

11

GOOD MORNING MIAMI

NBC

6.4

8.22

12

EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND

CBS

6.3

8.08

13

MEET MY FOLKS 3/10

NBC

5.9

7.58

13

LAW & ORDER: SVU

NBC

5.9

7.63

13

THAT ‘70S SHOW

FOX

5.9

7.58

13

SIMPSONS

FOX

5.9

7.58

17

LAW & ORDER

NBC

5.5

7.10

18

BERNIE MAC

FOX

5.4

6.99

18

STILL STANDING

CBS

5.4

7.00

20

WITHOUT A TRACE

CBS

5.1

6.62

20

OLIVER BEENE

FOX

5.1

6.62

22

MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE

FOX

5.0

6.43

23

LAW & ORDER 3/12

NBC

4.6

5.92

24

LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT

NBC

4.5

5.83

24

MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE SPCL

FOX

4.5

5.81

26

YES, DEAR

CBS

4.4

5.60

27

ALIAS

ABC

4.3

5.59

27

KING OF QUEENS

CBS

4.3

5.52

29

CEDRIC ENTERTAINER: PRESN

FOX

4.2

5.37

29

BOOMTOWN

NBC

4.2

5.45

Source: ABC Networks, based on data from Nielsen Media Research



CABLE TV
Ranked on Households
Week Ending March
9


BASIC CABLE

#

PROGRAM NAME

NET

Households

Persons 2+

(000)

Rtg
%

(000)

1

WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW ZONE)

TNN

4043

3.8

5856

2

PRES NEWS CONF/ANALYSIS(S)-3/06

FOXNC

3983

3.7

5938

3

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS CNFRNCE(S)-3/06

FOXNC

3728

3.5

5576

4

WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)

TNN

3724

3.5

5353

5

SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARD(S)-3/09

TNT

3546

3.3

4763

6

SPONGEBOB

NICK

3385

3.2

5226

7

SPONGEBOB

NICK

3236

3.0

4606

8

THE OREILLY FACTOR

FOXNC

3171

3.0

4427

9

SPONGEBOB

NICK

3166

3.0

4709

10

FAIRLY ODD PARENTS

NICK

3108

2.9

4680

11

FAIRLY ODD PARENTS

NICK

3086

2.9

4511

12

SUNDAY MOVIE I (THE FAMILIAR STRANGER)

LIF

3019

2.8

3522

13

BEST OF TLC WEEK(S)-3/08 (TRADING SPACES)

TLC

3002

2.8

4412

14

SPONGEBOB

NICK

2968

2.8

4102

15

SPONGEBOB

NICK

2860

2.7

4437

PAY CABLE

#

PROGRAM NAME

NET

Households

Persons 2+

(000)

Rtg%

(000)

1

SIX FEET UNDER

HBO

3458

3.2

5129

2

WCB:KLITSCHKO VS. SANDERS (JONES, JR. VS. RUIZ)

HBO

2627

2.5

3843

3

WCB:KLITSCHKO VS. SANDERS (PRE 2)

HBO

2537

2.4

3483

4

WCB:KLITSCHKO VS. SANDERS (POST)

HBO

2521

2.4

3245

5

SOPRANOS, THE

HBO

2423

2.3

3374

Total U.S. ratings and household projections are based on 106.7 million TV homes.
Source: Nielsen Media Research



SYNDICATION
Ranked on Households
Week Ending
March 2


#

PROGRAMS

Syndicator

Households

US Rtg%

(000)

1

WHEEL OF FORTUNE

KIN

10.2

10857

2

JEOPARDY

KIN

7.9

8467

3

FRIENDS-SYN (AT)

WB

7.8

8272

4

SEINFELD (AT)

SPT

7.7

8204

5

EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN (AT)

KIN

6.8

7226

5

OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (AT)

KIN

6.8

7213

7

SEINFELD-WKND (AT)

SPT

6.7

7180

8

ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT)

PRM

6.3

6712

9

DR. PHIL SHOW

KIN

5.8

6208

10

JUDGE JUDY (AT)

PRM

5.5

5868

Source: Nielsen Media Research



    

<td VALIG
SPANISH-LANGUAGE TELEVISION
Ranked on Households
Week Ending March 9

#

PROGRAMS

Net

NHTI*
Rtg%

Projection
(000)

1

ENTRE EL AMOR Y ODIO TUE

UNI

25.5

2481

2

ENTRE EL AMOR Y ODIO WED

UNI

25.3

2458

3

ENTRE EL AMOR Y ODIO MON

UNI

24.6

2393

4

ENTRE EL AMOR Y ODIO THU

UNI

24.4

2373

4

VIAS DEL AMOR TUE

UNI

24.4

2371

6

VIAS DEL AMOR MON

UNI

24.2

2354

7

ENTRE EL AMOR Y ODIO FRI

UNI

24.1

2343

8

VIAS DEL AMOR THU

UNI

23.6

2292

9

VIAS DEL AMOR WED

UNI

23.2

2255

10

VIAS DEL AMOR FRI

UNI