• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, April 15, 2005

Looking for TV network trend stories this season was easy and early for the press with the strong return of ABC and the quick fall of NBC. But just when you thought the press may be sending NBC away for good, the Peacock network might have another calling.

God has a hand in this. This week's religious-thriller "Revelations," a six-episode series from NBC, debuted to good viewer numbers. Add this to NBC's healthy mid-season "Medium" on Monday nights, and now critics have a more complicated story to tell.

The four major networks are within a whisker - a tenth of rating point or two -- of each other. That spells opportunity even in the coming May sweep. Of course, we shouldn't get too religious. "Revelations" did a nice 5.2 rating/13 share in adults 18 to 49. But it didn't make a dent in Fox's "American Idol," which earned a big 10.8 rating/26 share in 18 to 49 and 24.96 million viewers.

Where God was on one side of the TV dial this Wednesday at NBC, sex was definitely on the other at Fox. That's where Pamela Anderson's sitcom, "Stacked" opened to adequate numbers - improving on Fox's fading "A Simple Life."

Round one to God. Sex and sloth took it on the chin. "Stacked" busted just 8.3 million viewers, while "Revelations" prayed up to 15.6 million viewers. Even with calming ratings from two new shows, NBC is not out of the woods - especially concerning next month's upfront advertising market.

NBC will be looking down the throat of possibly having to roll back some of its pricing - an almost unheard of scenario for a broadcast network - all because it built-up cost per thousand (CPM) viewer prices to the highest premiums over the last several years.

Still, NBC might grab some minor price increases in the upfront. That will happen only if it gets a heavenly sign of higher-than-normal advertising volume.