ABC tops Thursday primetime

By John Eggerton
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

ABC was the must-see network in primetime Thursday night, at least in
households, according to Nielsen Media Research fast national numbers.

Led by Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and PrimeTime Thursday,
the network was tops from 8 p.m. to 11 p.n. with a 7.5 rating/14 share, followed
by a 7.0/13 for CBS and 6.2/11 for NBC.

It was a different story in the key 18-through-49 demo, however, with NBC
taking top honors with a 4.2, outdistancing ABC and CBS, which tied for second
at a 3.1. NBC was helped by strong showings from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. by veteran
Friends and reality TV newcomer Spy TV.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.