Broadcast & Cable Nielsens: Week Ending December 20, 1998

Below are the Nielsen ratings for the 13th week of the 1998-99 television broadcast season; reruns are excluded from the list. The first chart includes household (HH) ratings and viewership (in millions) for all first-run broadcast programs. The second charts have ratings for programs that aired on cable during the week. Please note that household shares were not available for 5 of the programs of this week. Available 18-49 data is included in a separate chart below the cable ratings.

Broadcast ratings:

Show	Net	Date	Time	HH	Viewers (millions)
ER	NBC	12/17/98	10:00	20.5/34	29.87
Frasier	NBC	12/17/98	9:00	16.9/27	24.99
Friends	NBC	12/17/98	8:00	15.8/27	23.67
Veronica's Closet	NBC	12/17/98	9:30	14.3/23	20.23
Jesse	NBC	12/17/98	8:30	13.3/22	19.70
Borrowed Hearts	CBS	12/20/98	9:00	12.9/21	19.61
NYPD Blue	ABC	12/15/98	10:00	13.1/22	18.09
NFL Monday Night Football	ABC	12/14/98	8:22	11.9/19	16.67
JAG	CBS	12/15/98	8:00	11.1/18	16.44
60 Minutes	CBS	12/20/98	7:00	11.2/20	15.99
Everybody Loves Raymond	CBS	12/14/98	9:00	10.9/16	15.89
The Drew Carey Show	ABC	12/16/98	9:00	10.6/17	15.47
Ally McBeal	FOX	12/14/98	9:00	10.5/16	15.08
Becker	CBS	12/14/98	9:30	9.9/15	13.90
Cosby	CBS	12/14/98	8:00	9.6/15	13.90
The Simpsons	FOX	12/20/98	8:00	8.6/14	13.90
Spin City	ABC	12/15/98	9:00	9.6/15	13.70
Just Shoot Me	NBC	12/15/98	9:00	9.7/15	13.55
King of Queens	CBS	12/14/98	8:30	9.1/14	13.39
Home Improvement	ABC	12/15/98	8:00	9.4/16	13.30
Nash Bridges	CBS	12/18/98	10:00	8.3/15	12.78
Diagnosis Murder	CBS	12/17/98	9:00	8.6/14	12.70
Dateline NBC	NBC	12/14/98	10:00	9.4/16	12.65
Whose Line is it Anyway?	ABC	12/16/98	9:30	8.5	12.41
Will & Grace	NBC	12/15/98	9:30	8.7/14	12.06
The Hughleys	ABC	12/15/98	8:30	8.4/14	12.05
Martial Law	CBS	12/19/98	9:00	7.5/14	11.61
Dharma & Greg	ABC	12/16/98	8:00	8.1	11.50
Dateline NBC	NBC	12/16/98	8:00	8.3/14	11.28
Two Guys, Girl & Pizza Place	ABC	12/16/98	8:30	7.8	11.27
Dateline NBC	NBC	12/15/98	10:00	8.2/14	11.21
Sports Night	ABC	12/15/98	9:30	8.1/13	11.17
Candid Camera	CBS	12/18/98	9:30	7.0/12	11.14
ABC News Special	ABC	12/16/98	10:00	8.2/14	11.07
NFL Monday Blast	ABC	12/14/98	8:00	8.1	11.01
Kids Say the Darndest Things	CBS	12/18/98	9:00	6.7/12	10.99
20/20	ABC	12/18/98	10:00	7.5/12	10.90
ABC News Special	ABC	12/20/98	9:00	7.6/14	10.87
48 Hours	CBS	12/17/98	10:00	7.7/13	10.69
Suddenly Susan	NBC	12/14/98	8:00	7.9/12	10.68
LA Doctors	CBS	12/14/98	10:00	8.2/14	10.33
Promised Land	CBS	12/17/98	8:00	7.0/12	10.28
A Thousand Men & a Baby	CBS	12/15/98	9:00	7.1/12	10.06
Chicago Hope	CBS	12/16/98	10:00	7.6/13	10.00
Beverly Hills, 90210	FOX	12/16/98	8:00	6.8/11	10.00
NewsRadio	NBC	12/15/98	8:30	7.1/12	9.97
Early Edition	CBS	12/19/98	8:00	6.7/13	9.97
World's Funniest	FOX	12/20/98	7:36	6.4/11	9.77
America's Most Wanted	FOX	12/19/98	9:00	6.4/12	9.75
Party of Five	FOX	12/16/98	9:00	6.9/11	9.73
Caroline in the City	NBC	12/14/98	8:30	7.0/11	9.69
48 Hours	CBS	12/16/98	9:00	6.9/11	9.55
Stars on Ice	NBC	12/18/98	8:00	6.8/12	9.53
Mickey's Christmas Carol	CBS	12/18/98	8:00	5.4/10	9.39
Sense and Sensibility	NBC	12/20/98	9:00	6.6/11	9.09
3rd Rock from the Sun	NBC	12/16/98	9:00	6.4/11	8.90
Mad About You	NBC	12/14/98	9:00	6.4/10	8.67
It's a Wonderful Life	NBC	12/19/98	8:00	5.5/10	8.60
7th Heaven	WB	12/14/98	8:00	5.7/9	8.52
Dateline NBC	NBC	12/20/98	7:00	6.1/11	8.41
Christmas in Washington	NBC	12/18/98	10:00	6.1/11	8.32
Cops	FOX	12/19/98	8:00	5.4/10	8.24
Melrose Place	FOX	12/14/98	8:00	5.9/9	8.20
King of the Hill	FOX	12/15/98	8:00	5.1/9	7.90
Encore! Encore!	NBC	12/16/98	9:30	6.0/9	7.74
The Nanny	CBS	12/16/98	8:00	5.5	7.58
I Love Trouble	ABC	12/17/98	9:00	5.1/8	7.49
Conrad Bloom	NBC	12/14/98	9:30	5.5/8	7.30
Millenium	FOX	12/18/98	9:00	4.8/9	7.19
Buffy the Vampire Slayer	WB	12/15/98	8:00	4.3/7	6.85
Maggie Winters	CBS	12/16/98	8:30	5.1/8	6.81
Dawson's Creek	WB	12/16/98	8:00	4.5/7	6.62
Vengeance Unlimited	ABC	12/17/98	8:00	4.6/8	6.44
The Baby-Sitters Club	ABC	12/20/98	7:00	4.0/7	6.40
Cupid	ABC	12/19/98	10:00	4.3/8	6.28
Charmed	WB	12/16/98	9:00	4.0/6	5.99
Greatest Christmas Moments	FOX	12/17/98	8:00	3.8/6	5.64
Fantasy Island	ABC	12/19/98	9:00	3.6/7	5.44
Brimstone	FOX	12/18/98	8:00	3.8/7	5.37
Felicity	WB	12/15/98	9:00	3.5/6	4.98
Holding the Baby	FOX	12/15/98	8:30	3.3/5	4.81
Star Trek: Voyager	UPN	12/16/98	9:00	3.4/5	4.69
Fox Files	FOX	12/17/98	9:00	3.3/5	4.68
Steve Harvey Show	WB	12/17/98	9:00	3.0/5	4.49
Mariah Carey	UPN	12/15/98	9:00	3.0/5	4.31
Jamie Foxx Show	WB	12/17/98	8:30	3.0/5	4.24
For Your Love	WB	12/17/98	9:30	2.6/8	3.80
Wayans Brothers	WB	12/17/98	8:00	2.7/5	3.73
Moesha	UPN	12/15/98	8:00	2.8/5	3.59
7 Days	UPN	12/16/98	8:00	2.3/4	3.43
Clueless	UPN	12/15/98	8:30	2.5/4	3.30
Legacy	UPN	12/18/98	8:00	1.5/3	2.11
Out There	UPN	12/17/98	8:00	1.3/2	1.69
The Love Boat	UPN	12/18/98	9:00	1.3/2	1.66

Cable viewership ratings:

Show	Net	Viewers (millions)
Sunday Night Football	ESPN	10.60
Wrestling (Mon, 9pm)	USA	5.93
Larry King Live (Wed)	CNN	5.84
Wrestling (Mon, 10pm)	USA	5.54
Wrestling (Mon, 8pm)	TNT	5.30
Lethal Weapon	TBS	5.25
Strike Against Iraq	CNN	5.24
CNN News (Wed, 10pm)	CNN	5.12
Wrestling (Thurs, 9pm)	TBS	4.91
NFL Primetime	ESPN	4.42

Cable household ratings:

18-49 ratings:

Show	18-49 rat/sh
NYPD Blue	8.1/23
Monday Night Football	7.1/19
Just Shoot Me	6.6/18
Whose Line is it Anyway?	6.6/16
Will & Grace	5.9/16
Suddenly Susan	5.1/14
Sports Night	4.9/13
NewsRadio	4.6/13
Caroline in the City	4.5/12
Mad About You	4.2/10
JAG	4.2/12
3rd Rock from the Sun	3.7/11
Conrad Bloom	3.6/9
Encore! Encore!	3.1/8
7th Heaven	2.9/8
Felicity	2.1/6
Mariah Carey: Around the World	1.8/5
Clueless	1.2/3

CLICK TO VIEW THE FULL SOURCE DATA FOR THIS WEEK

Source: USA Today, Variety, Broadcasting Magazine, and The Los Angeles Times