‘Millionaire’s’ Roll Keeps ABC’s Streak Going

ABC cruised to its 11th consecutive ratings victory last week in the wake of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” based on viewing estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

Even divine intervention, meanwhile, did little to help NBC, as the new animated series “God, the Devil and Bob” was previewed Thursday and lost about 30% of its “Friends” lead-in audience--a bigger decline percentage-wise than the usual occupant of that time slot, “Jesse.”

Two series relaunched last week to only modest results. Fox’s “Family Guy” fared reasonably well among teenagers but looked shaky in other demographics joining the network’s Tuesday lineup, while the CBS drama “City of Angels” drew modestnumbers in its return Wednesday after several preemptions during sweeps.

“Millionaire” helped propel two Sunday night dramas in different directions, as “The Practice” delivered another big audience following the quiz show while “The X-Files” slipped to its lowest new-episode rating since the program’s first season airing against it. ABC also drew more than 12 million viewers with “Model Behavior,” a “Wonderful World of Disney” movie featuring Kathie Lee Gifford.

Cable Top 10

Here are Nielsen’s Top 10 cable programs in prime time last week, also ranked by total viewers (in millions).

*--*

Net- View- Program work ers 1. “Raising the Mammoth” DISC 10.1 2. Wrestling (Mon., 10 p.m.) USA 8.15 3. The Sopranos HBO 7.18 4. Wrestling (Mon., 9 p.m.) USA 6.94 5. Snick House (9:30 p.m.) NICK 4.04 6. Snick House (9 p.m.) NICK 3.98 7. “Another Woman’s Husband” LIFE 3.86 8. Wild Thornberrys NICK 3.60 9. Wrestling (Sun., 7 p.m.) USA 3.56 10. Caitlin’s Way NICK 3.47

*--*

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 Season week to date ABC 14.04 million 14.17 CBS 11.88 12.89 NBC 9.66 12.71 FOX 8.90 9.32 UPN 3.76 3.94 WB 3.09 3.81

*--*

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.

*--*

Sta- House- Program tion holds 1. Friends KNBC 963,185 2. Millionaire (Sun.) KABC 916,073 3. Millionaire (Tue.) KABC 910,838 4. Sports Night KABC 905,603 5. The Practice KABC 811,379 6. Millionaire (Thur.) KABC 806,144 7. 60 Minutes KCBS 753,797 8. NYPD Blue KABC 680,511 9. Frasier KNBC 643,868 10. God, the Devil and Bob KNBC 638,633

*--*