Ratings Archives: Week of February 2, 1998

It is the first full week of the 1998 February sweeps and CBS jumps out to win the week, posting a network household average of an 11.9 rating. How did they do it, you ask? The Nagano Winter Olympics.

CBS began coverage of the international sporting event on Friday, February 6th, with the opening ceremonies. That drew 27.2 million viewers and a 29 HH share, and ranked #5 for the week. Saturday and Sunday coverage ranked #12 and #3, respectively.  CBS also placed 60 MINUTES (#6) and the TV movie MY SERGEI (#19) in the top 20 chart.

NBC still had a very good week, even with the increased competition. Pulling in a 10.6 network rating, it placed 11 programs in the top 20, including the regular #1 program, ER (31.9 million viewers).  NBC's coverage of the NBA All-Star game on Sunday drew a respectable 17 million viewers and a 10.6 hh rating, ranking #17 for the week.

FOX topped ABC to finish in third for the week, with an 8.1 rating. Its lone top 20 program was THE X-FILES (#11), which drew 21.3 million viewers against CBS' Olympics coverage.

ABC did place three shows in the top 20, but with a 7.5 rating, it could only manage 4th place.

WB topped UPN in the netletts battle, 3.5 to 2.4 ratings, respectively.

Spotlighting the Sunday, 9 p.m. hour, the five networks with programming on the night drew a combined 85 million viewers, posted a Household rating of a 53.8 and had a total TV share of 79.


Nielsen Broadcast ratings chart for the week of February 2, 1998