• by May 31, 2001

"Law & Order" was Nielsen's Most Wanted last week.

The season finale of this 11-year-old NBC crime drama nabbed the week's top spot in its regular Wednesday slot - its first No. 1 showing ever.

Sweetening the picture, a second "Law & Order" episode airing an hour earlier nailed third place.

The season finale for "Everybody Loves Raymond" landed in between for second place, which helped CBS to a narrow prime-time win in households, according to Nielsen Media Research figures released Wednesday.

For the week, CBS averaged a 7.4 rating and 13 share, while NBC had a 7.3 rating and 13 share. NBC edged out CBS in viewers, 10.8 million to 10.3 million. ABC had 9.1 million viewers (6.4 rating, 11 share), Fox had 8.0 million (5.0, 9), UPN had 4.6 million (2.9, 5), the WB had 3.7 million (2.5, 4), and Pax TV had 1.3 million (.9, 2).

Before the May sweeps came to an end mid-week, other series scoring well with their season finales included "Frasier" (for fourth place), "Judging Amy" (sixth place), "NYPD Blue" (tied for seventh), "JAG" (ninth) and "Dharma & Greg" (tied for tenth).

Now, the long, hot season of repeats begins.

In the back-and-forth evening news battle, ABC's "World News Tonight" regained the top spot it seized two weeks ago with an average 8.6 million viewers (6.6 rating, 14 share), while "NBC Nightly News" slipped to second with an average 8.4 million viewers (6.2 rating, 14 share). "The CBS Evening News" had 8.1 million viewers (6.1 rating, 13 share).

A ratings point represents 1,022,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 102.2 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

Prime-time ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research for May 21-27. Top 20 listings include the week's ranking, with rating for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses.

1. (9) "Law & Order," NBC, 14.2, 14.5 million homes.
2. (7) "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 13.3, 13.6 million homes.
3. (X) "Law & Order," NBC, 12.2, 12.5 million homes.
4. (18) "Frasier," NBC, 12.1, 12.4 million homes.
5. (4) "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire-Tuesday," ABC, 10.9, 11.1 million homes.
6. (23) "Judging Amy," CBS, 10.8, 11.1 million homes.
7. (X) "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire-Monday Sp-5/21," ABC, 10.7, 11.0 million homes.
7. (24) "NYPD Blue," ABC, 10.7, 11.0 million homes.
9. (27) "JAG," CBS, 10.5, 10.8 million homes.
10. "ABC Monday Night Movie: Anne Frank, Part 2," ABC, 9.5, 9.7 million homes.
10. (36) "Dharma & Greg," ABC, 9.5, 9.7 million homes.
12. (11) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 9.2, 9.4 million homes.
12. (29) "King Of Queens," CBS, 9.2, 9.4 million homes.
12. (X) "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire-Wednesday Sp-5/23," ABC, 9.2, 9.4 million homes.
15. (X) "National Geographic Channel: Pearl Harbor: Legacy Of Attack," NBC, 8.8, 9.0 million homes.

- The Associated Press