‘Kids’ and ‘Bella’ Lead CBS to Seasonal First

The mob continues to offer ratings CBS can’t refuse, as the opening part of “Bella Mafia” blew away its Sunday movie competition, according to results issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

CBS--which scored strong ratings in May thanks to “The Last Don”--also walloped rivals with its latest “Kids Say the Darndest Things” special, hosted by Bill Cosby, en route to its only first-place finish so far this season.

The network still ranked fourth among people under 50--the age bracket most actively sought by advertisers--while Fox continues to do well by that measure thanks to shows such as “King of the Hill,” which delivered its biggest audience ever Sunday. NBC’s cross-over “Law & Order” and “Homicide” story line generated the latter’s highest body count since their previous team-up in February 1996, despite a season-high performance the same hour by ABC’s “20/20,” which featured a Barbra Streisand-James Brolin interview.

After losing to “Frasier” in successive weeks, “Home Improvement” also rebounded with its biggest audience in more than a year, while “Frasier’s” 100th episode fell to its lowest rating of the season. The ABC show benefited by airing twice, at 8 and 9 p.m., as the network sought to prop up its Tuesday lineup.

National Nielsen Viewership

Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (Nov. 10-16) as compiled by Nielsen Media Research. They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish. Nielsen estimates that there are 254 million potential U.S. viewers age 2 and older. Viewership is listed here in millions.

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: 15.16 million

NBC: 14.99

ABC: 13.31

FOX: 12.90

WB: 4.90

UPN: 4.88

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Season to Date

NBC: 15.78 million

CBS: 13.84

ABC: 13.27

FOX: 10.90

UPN: 4.68

WB: 4.29

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. ER KNBC 1,137,095 2. Seinfeld KNBC 941,735 3. Friends KNBC 931,762 4. The X-Files KTTV 876,615 5. “Bella Mafia” Pt. 1 KCBS 821,514 6. Frasier KNBC 791,458 7. Veronica’s Closet KNBC 781,440 8. Home Improvement KABC 776,431 9. Touched by an Angel KCBS 756,394 10. 60 Minutes KCBS 751,385

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