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- <text id=92TT0930>
- <title>
- Apr. 27, 1992: From Worst to First
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1992
- Apr. 27, 1992 The Untold Story of Pan Am 103
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- THE WEEK, Page 23
- ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
- From Worst to First
- </hdr><body>
- <p>As network viewing takes a rare jump, CBS wins the season's
- ratings crown
- </p>
- <p> Network TV is a notoriously troubled business, with cable,
- VCRs and other rivals steadily wooing away viewers. But that
- doesn't mean one of the Big Three can't still pop a champagne
- cork every spring. This year's celebrator: CBS, first in prime-
- time ratings for the 1991-92 season. The network drew an average
- 13.8 rating for the 30-week period, comfortably ahead of NBC, at
- 12.3, and ABC, at 12.2. It was an especially satisfying victory
- for CBS, which has been in third place for the past four
- seasons; no other network has jumped from worst to first in one
- year.
- </p>
- <p> CBS was lifted by such hits as 60 Minutes (TV's No.
- 1-rated show), Murphy Brown and Designing Women and also got a
- big boost from blockbuster sports events like the Super Bowl,
- World Series and Winter Olympics. But the huge cost of acquiring
- TV rights to those events means that CBS, despite its victory,
- will lose money for the season.
- </p>
- <p> The other big winner was Fox, which increased its ratings
- 25% over last year. The Big Three had some unaccustomed good
- news as well: their combined share of the TV audience rose for
- the first time since 1976-77, from 62% to 63%. Has the
- long-term erosion of network viewership finally bottomed out?
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
-
-