Published: October 18, 2002
preview / download THE PEACOCK BEATS ITS YEAR-AGO 18-49 RATING AND WINS THURSDAY IN THAT CATEGORY BY A COMMANDING 25 PERCENT
WILL & GRACE SOARS 21 PERCENT ABOVE YEAR-AGO RESULTS
ER WINS AT 10 P.M. BY A HUGE 130 PERCENT MARGIN AND BY 164 PERCENT AT 10:30
FRIENDS BEATS ITS COMBINED MAJOR-NETWORK COMPETITION IN 18-49
SCRUBS AND GOOD MORNING, MIAMI RETAIN SOLID PERCENTAGES OF THEIR 18-49 LEAD-INS; SCRUBS TOPS YEAR-AGO SLOT RESULTS BY 24 PERCENT
BURBANK, Calif. — October 18, 2002 — NBC has once again dominated the most hotly contested evening on television among adults 18-49, defeating second-place CBS by a commanding 25 percent margin. NBCs formidable Thursday lineup also improved by 5 percent on its 18-49 rating for the same night last year.
According to preliminary fast affiliate in-home viewing statistics from Nielsen Media Research, Friends (12.3 rating, 33 share among adults 18-49, 25.3 million viewers overall) improved on its 18-49 rating of the same night last year by 0.1 of a point and led its half-hour in virtually all key categories. Friends beat its combined major-network competition among adults, men and women 18-34; adults and women 18-49; and women 25-54. Its winning margin over CBS second-place Survivor Thailand was 58 percent among adults 18-49 and 5.2 million viewers overall.
At 8:30 p.m. ET, Scrubs (8.7/22 among adults 18-49, 17.9 million viewers overall) retained a strong 71 percent of its 18-49 lead-in from Friends, pending Nielsen updates of these preliminary results. On the same night last year, NBC settled for a 57 percent retention in the half-hour with Inside Schwartz. Scrubs was a solid second in the time period last night among adults 18-49 and No. 1 among women 18-34. In the adult 18-49 category, Scrubs beat NBCs year-ago result in the time period by 24 percent.
From 9-9:30 p.m. ET, Will & Grace (10.2/25 among adults 18-49, 19.9 million viewers overall) soared 21 percent above its 18-49 rating for the same night last year. Will & Grace was a close second in the half-hour among adults 18-49 and No. 1 ahead of CBS CSI: Crime Scene Investigation among adults 18-34, women 18-34 and women 18-49.
At 9:30 p.m. ET, Good Morning, Miami (7.9/19 among adults 18-49, 15.8 million viewers) retained a solid 77 percent of its 18-49 lead-in from Will & Grace. Good Morning, Miami is the seasons No. 1 new series among adults 18-49 and No. 1 new comedy among both adults 18-49 and total viewers.
From 10-11 p.m., ER (12.2/32 among adults 18-49, 25.5 million viewers overall) demolished its time-period rivals, beating the combined competition in virtually all key categories. ER defeated CBS second-place Without a Trace by a 130 percent margin among adults 18-49 (12.2/32 vs. 5.3/14) and saw that advantage increase from 109 percent during the shows first half-hour to 164 percent in their second half-hour. In overall total viewers, ER defeated Without a Trace by 10.0 million persons. ER also solidly outscored the previous hours CSI among adults 18-49 (12.2/32 vs. 11.2/27) to finish as the nights No. 1 drama in that key category.
Preliminary 18-49 results for Thursday night are: NBC, 10.6/27; CBS, 8.5/22; Fox, 2.0/5; ABC, 1.8/5. In overall total viewers, October 17 preliminary averages are: CBS, 22.6 million viewers; CBS, 21.7 million; ABC, 5.8 million; Fox, 4.2 million. NBC led the night among adults, men and women 18-34; adults, men and women 18-49; and adults and women 25-54, and tied for first among men 25-54.
In local-market late-night results, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (5.3 rating, 14 share in metered-market households) won decisively over CBS Late Show With David Letterman (4.2/11 in metered-market households). Late Night With Conan OBrien (2.6/10 in metered-market households) also won convincingly over CBS Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn (1.9/7 in metered-market households). Tonight and Late Night are each a perfect 19 for 19 in the local markets so far this season versus Late Show and Late Late Show respectively.
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