The season premiere of "Ed" bolstered NBC's already strong Wednesday lineup this week, while ABC got some much-needed good news on the comedy front as "According to Jim" held up well in its second
try.
Other ratings news from Wednesday night included another strong performance from UPN's "Enterprise," a good start for Fox's postseason baseball and small year-to-year declines for the
premiere of the WB's drama lineup.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the second-season bow of "Ed" teamed with the official season premiere of "The West Wing" and another big "Law & Order" to
give NBC a sweep of the night's hours in adults 18-49 and total viewers. NBC won by 6 shares in the coveted demographic and averaged 8.5 million viewers more than second-place ABC.
"Ed" was a
narrow winner in the 8 p.m. hour over CBS' "60 Minutes II" in total viewers (12.28 million vs. 12.03 million) and finished in a virtual tie with ABC's comedies in 18-49 (4.6 rating, 12 share).
Averages were about on par with "Ed's" Wednesday premiere last December.
"West Wing" (23.65 million, 8.8/21 in 18-49) was down about 10% from its record-setting terrorist-themed special episode of
last week, but its official season premiere still ranks as its third-best performance ever in 18-49. It won over second-place ABC by 9 shares in 18-49, 12 shares in 25-54 and 3 shares in 18-34.
"Law & Order" (22.07 million, 8.4/22), down slightly from last week's marks, won its 10 p.m. hour by 11 shares in 18-49.
Over at ABC, the second week of "According to Jim" (9.81 million, 4.
7/12 in 18-49) built by 7% on the 18-49 lead-in of "My Wife and Kids" (10.86 million, 4.4/13) -- that's down from the previous week's surprisingly strong 17% build, but an encouraging follow-up
performance nonetheless. "Jim" finished behind only "Ed" in 18-49 (4.7 vs. 5.2).
One caveat to the strong comedy showing for ABC is that the numbers for "Wife" and "Jim" declined week to week
despite not facing comedy competition from Fox, which was airing baseball this week. But given ABC's comedy woes on Tuesday, any comedy that can virtually match or build on the network's hottest entry
is a positive sign.
ABC improved week to week at 9 p.m., as "Drew Carey" (11.00 million, 5.5/13) delivered its best demo score since March, and "Whose Line Is It Anyway" (9.24 million, 4.7/11) and
"20/20" (11.97 million, 4.4/11) placed second.
The WB was off by 5% in adults 18-49 from its opening Wednesday of a season ago (2.0 vs. 2.1), with "Dawson's Creek" (4.47 million, 2.1/6) down 16%
and "Felicity" (3.65 million, 1.8/4) up 6%. "Dawson's" was third in its hour in women 18-34 (4.1/11), "Felicity" fourth (3.6/9).
The WB is getting tougher competish from UPN on Wednesdays this
fall, as the latter's "Enterprise" (7.81 million, 4. 2/11) declined just 9% from its strong second week and finished 35% ahead of what UPN got from "Star Trek: Voyager" in its third episode a year ago
(3.1/8). It won its hour in all adult male demos.
UPN's "Special Unit 2" (4.23 million, 1.9/5) held up well in week two, down a tick in 18-49 and enough to edge "Felicity," although the latter won
in 18-34.
Fox averaged 8.32 million viewers and a 3.1/8 in adults 18-49 for its first primetime playoff baseball game of the season (Athletics vs. Yankees) -- up 17% and 13% respectively vs. Game
2 between the same teams on a Wednesday last season. Net achieved gains despite a 14% falloff in New York viewing compared with a year ago (12. 0/18 vs. 14.0/20).
CBS ran third for the night by
most measures, with "Amazing Race" falling to its second lowest 18-49 rating of the season (3.7/9). And after some decent young-adult scores in recent weeks, rookie 10 p.m. drama "Wolf Lake" (5.91
million, 2.4/6) fell to season lows.
-- Variety