NBC PICKING UP SPEED FOR RATINGS CHALLENGE

In the final week of warm-ups, NBC continued to build momentum for its attempt to scale Mt. Nielsen and replace CBS as king of the prime-time ratings, placing three rookie shows and five veterans among the nation’s 10 most-watched programs.

At the top of the list were four NBC comedies: a rerun of “The Cosby Show,” the new Saturday night comedies “The Golden Girls” and “227” and a rerun of “Family Ties.” “Hell Town,” a new drama starring Robert Blake as a priest, was seventh.

In all, NBC broadcast 13 of the 17 most-watched shows last week, and only one of them, “Bob Hope Buys NBC?,” was a special.

The networks’ 1985-86 season began officially Monday, and the competition intensified appreciably. The high-rated “Hell Town,” for instance, must now air opposite new episodes of ABC’s “Dynasty,” the most popular show on television last season. And CBS begins new installments of its well-followed serials “Dallas,” “Knots Landing” and (next week) “Falcon Crest.”

In winning its 17th of the last 18 weekly ratings battles (including one tie), NBC averaged a 16.1 rating last week, compared to 14.5 for ABC and 12.6 for CBS. Each rating point is said by the A. C. Nielsen Co. to represent 859,000 households.

ABC, which finished third in the prime-time ratings last season for the first time in a decade, was helped by its telecast Sunday night of the Emmy Awards, which scored their highest rating since ABC last carried them in 1982. The three-hour telecast ranked 8th among the week’s 58 programs and was viewed in about 15.9 million homes.

ABC did not do that well with the four new series it premiered last week, although all ran respectable seconds in their time periods. “Our Family Honor” ranked 23rd, “Lime Street” was 29th, “Spenser: For Hire” was 34th and “Hollywood Beat” was 42nd.

CBS, which has won the prime-time ratings race for the last six years, got a good showing from its new action series “The Equalizer,” and fared more modestly with three other new entrants to its Wednesday night lineup.

“Charlie & Co.” (No. 19), “The George Burns Comedy Show” (No. 31) and “Stir Crazy” (No. 32) all ran second in their time periods, with NBC’s “Highway to Heaven” and “Hell Town” finishing first in the 8 to 10 p.m. block and ABC’s three-hour documentary, “45/85,” running third (and ranking 50th overall). At 10 p.m., the opening installment of “The Equalizer” attracted about 3 million more households than the season premiere of NBC’s “St. Elsewhere.”

As the new season began, NBC and CBS were squabbling over the outcome of the ratings competition for the preceding year. CBS won the traditional 30-week season that began Sept. 24, 1984, but for the 52-week period, NBC is claiming a narrow victory. It says it averaged a 15.1 rating during that period, compared to 15 for CBS and 13.7 for ABC. CBS, however, says its calculations show that the two networks finished dead even with 15 ratings.