• October 26, 2000

broadcastingcable.com - NBC's move of sitcom "Frasier" to Tuesday night paid off-at least for the first night. The one-hour season premiere of the former Thursday night comedy steam-rolled its network competition Tuesday, averaging 28.1 million viewers, an 18.6 rating/27 share in households and a 13.0/31 in adults 18-49, according to fast national numbers from Nielsen Media Research figures.

"Frasier" crushed ABC's pair of 9-10 p.m. ET/PT sitcoms, "Dharma & Greg" and "Geena." "Dharma & Greg" posted its lowest original episode numbers ever, averaging 10.3 million viewers and a 4.2/10 in adults 18-49. "Geena," in its third week, scored its lowest ratings to date, averaging 8.2 million viewers and a 3.6/8 in adults 18-49. CBS' "60 Minutes II" also was run over by "Frasier," averaging only 8.8 million viewers. NBC's premiere of "The Michael Richards Show" led NBC's night off with 13.1 million viewers and a 5.9/17 in adults 18-49.

The season premiere of "3rd Rock From the Sun" dropped off slightly from Richards, averaging 12.5 million viewers and a 5.7/15 in adults 18-49. "Dateline NBC" benefited from the "Frasier" lead-in, posting a 7.1/18 in adults 18-49 and 16 million viewers. Fox's coverage of Game 3 of the World Series averaged 16.2 million viewers and a 6.2/16 in adults 18-49.