• by Paul Gough , February 12, 2003

20/20’s airing of an independent documentary filmmaker’s interview with troubled pop star Michael Jackson took ABC to the top of the Nielsen Media Research ratings for the second time in a month.

While both NBC and CBS had larger total primetime averages, last Thursday night’s interview earned a 16.8/24 in total household delivery. In a crowded field of Thursday night hits, the Jackson documentary scored ABC’s largest non-sports audience on a Thursday night since at least 1991 and its best adult 18-49 rating on the night without sports since 1994.

In the measures of total viewers and adults 18-49, the data came out pretty much the way it’s been going all season. CBS’ 8.8/14 bested the competition for the 14th week this season; NBC was tied for first place with surging Fox; both had 4.9/12.

In total viewers and households, NBC was in second place with 8.1/13, followed by ABC’s 7.4/12 and Fox’s 6.3. The WB, UPN and Pax were further behind. In adults 18-49, ABC was in second place with a 4.6/12 followed by CBS with a 3.9/10. The WB earned a 2.1/5, UPN delivered a 1.6/4 and Pax earned a 0.3/1.

In the 20 weeks of this season, CBS is leading in primetime average households (8.4/14) compared to NBC (7.8/13), ABC (6.7/11) and Fox (5.9/9). In adults 18-49, NBC is ahead with a 4.6/12, followed by ABC (4.1/11), Fox (4/11) and CBS (3.9/11).

The top 10 programs for the week ended Sunday are:

1. 20/20 Special, 16.8/24.
2. CSI, 15.6/22.
3. Primetime Thursday, (15/23).
4. Friends, 14.7/22.
5. ER, 13.7/21.
6. Friends, 13.6/20.
7. Everybody Loves Raymond, 12.7/18.
8. Law & Order, 12.3/20.
9. American Idol – Tuesday, 12/18.
10. CSI: Miami, 12/19.
11. Joe Millionaire, 12/17.

There are 106.7 million television households. A single national household ratings point represents 1%, or 1.06 million households.