• by Ken Liebeskind , March 20, 2002

NBC edged out CBS last week for the top prime average in the Nielsens, thanks to strong showings from Friends, Fear Factor and Law and Order. The network scored a 13 share and 7.9 household rating for the week, nipping CBS at 13/7.5. ABC (10/6.2) and Fox (8/4.9) followed.

The week's leading show was actually CBS's Survivor which earned a 19 share and a 7.6 household rating and 20.4 million viewers, with NBC's top shows following. Fox edged into the top 10 with its Celebrity Boxing special. Condemned by critics with good taste, it obviously appealed to the masses, earning a 14 share and 5.6 household rating with 15.4 million viewers. It was a tremendous hit for Fox, its biggest draw this season after the Super Bowl, World Series and Star Wars: Episode I.

Other top ten shows were Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS), Jag (CBS), Becker (CBS), 60 Minutes (CBS) and Leap of Faith (NBC).

ESPN's Season on the Brink, its first foray into movies, was the fourth highest ranked cable show. It scored a 2.8 household average in nearly 3 million homes. Other top cable shows were Cadet Kelly (DSNY), WWF Entertainment (TNN), Real World XI (MTV) and Spongebob (NICK).

Syndicated winners were Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Friends, Seinfeld and Entertainment Tonight.

The top sports shows for the most recent week were Fox's NASCAR Winston Cup (Fox), Honda Golf Classic (NBC), WWF Smackdown (UPN) and NCAA basketball (CBS), with six separate games making the top 10.

In other TV news, ABC is finding a new source of revenue for its soap operas by integrating Revlon into the story line of All My Children. More than product placement, the company will actually be in 25 episodes as an archrival to another cosmetics company. It's been said the move is a first, with ABC striving to boost profits from its soaps and now willing to make similar deals with its other soaps, Port Charles and General Hospital.