CBS Gets Championship Performance to Win Week

CBS scored with its telecast of the NCAA basketball championship game last week, as the final between Arizona and Kentucky propelled the network to its fifth weekly win in 29 weeks this season, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

An estimated 50 million people watched all or part of the game, which was the top-rated program of the week. The game was the highest-rated CBS broadcast since UCLA played Arkansas in the NCAA basketball final in 1995.

In addition, Fox was crowing about its own victory with “Party of Five.” More than 13.2 million viewers tuned in to the drama’s season finale last Wednesday night, making it the most watched episode ever for the program in its three seasons. “Party of Five” also came out on top for the first time ever in the 9-10 p.m. time slot in the key adult demographic age group of 18-49, which advertisers covet.

Meanwhile, pint-sized Tahj Mowry beat up on some of his older colleagues on the WB network with the premiere of his new comedy, “Smart Guy,” last Wednesday. The show, about a smart 10-year-old who attends high school, was the highest-rated show on the network behind “The Jamie Foxx Show.”

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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: 13.67 million

NBC: 13.38

ABC: 12.10

FOX: 9.20

UPN: 4.33

WB: 3.62

Season to Date

NBC: 15.31 million

CBS: 13.82

ABC: 13.69

FOX: 11.88

UPN: 4.52

WB: 3.66

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 1,028,028 2. NCAA Basketball Final KCBS 958,833 3. Friends KNBC 840,215 4. “Ten Commandments” Part 2 KABC 785,848 -- 60 Minutes KCBS 785,848 6. Naked Truth KNBC 731,481 7. ER KNBC 726,539 8. Home Improvement KABC 716,654 9. Naked Truth (8:30 p.m.) KNBC 696,884 10. 20/20 KABC 686,999

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Source: Nielsen Media Research