Ratings Archives: Week of February 23, 1998

The 1998 February sweeps come to an end and, not surprisingly, CBS finishes on top. the EYE Network finished with a 14.3 rating and a 23 share of the TV viewing audience. This would be the last time CBS won a february sweeps, until 2013.

NBC finished in second place, with a 9.5 rating and 15 share. FOX had a very good sweeps as it topped ABC for the third spot, hauling in a 7.9 rating and a 12 share.  ABC was one tenth of a point behind FOX.

For the week, NBC just edged CBS for the top spot, a 108 rating to a 107 rating, respectively. ABC and FOX were a ways back with respective 8.4 and 7.7 ratings. The WB posted a 3.2 ratings and UPN was in 6th with a 2.6 rating.

Looking at the top 20 chart, NBC takes the top three spots, with ER, SEINFELD and VERONICA'S CLOSET, plus an additional six spots. CBS' top program was the 1998 Grammy Awards (#4) and it collected 25.1 million viewers on a Wednesday night. Among its other four top 20 programs was the series premiere of the sitcom, THE CLOSER, starring Tom Selleck and Ed Asner. Finishing in the 20th spot, the comedy drew 15.7 million viewers and was the networks top rated program of the night.

ABC posted four shows in the top 20, including two episodes of HOME IMPROVEMENT (#10 & #18). Part 2 of the TV Movie THE WEDDING pulled in 21.9 million viewers, down 2.5 million viewers from the the previous night's part 1 airing.


Nielsen Broadcast ratings chart for the week of February 23, 1998