• by Ken Liebeskind , June 19, 2002

Sports proved to be the key to network success again last week, as NBC scored big with the NBA finals and U.S. Open golf to lead all other networks.

Game four of the NBA Finals ranked first among all shows with an 18 share and 6.1 household rating with 16.5 million viewers. The tip off show for the game was ranked 14th. The U.S. Open didn't make the list of top shows for the week but Sunday's final round scored a 22 share/8.9 household, the highest rating for a Sunday U.S. Open telecast since 1973. The show beat last year's final round by 24 percent, with 38 million viewers.

Fox's American Idol: The Search for a Superstar scored big in its debut, with over 20 million viewers tuning in on Tuesday and Wednesday, ranking sixth and 12th overall. Wednesday's episode scored an 11 share/4.2 household. The show, based on the British hit Pop Idol, draws wannabe pop star contestants who viewers vote on until a single star is left.

CSI, Everybody Loves Raymond and Becker were ranked two through four for CBS. The rest of the top 10 was Law and Order: Criminal Intent and Crime and Punishment (NBC), 48 Hours (CBS), Dateline Sunday (NBC) and 60 Minutes (CBS). NBC led the way in prime average with a 12 share/6.4 household, followed by CBS (11/6), ABC (7/3.7) and Fox (7/3.6).

Cable leaders for the most recent week were the TBS movie Atomic Twister, MTV's Movie Awards and WWE Entertainment, with Twister scoring a 4.9 household with 5.1 million households viewing.

Syndicated winners were Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Friends, Seinfeld and The Oprah Winfrey Show, with Wheel getting a 7.7 household with 8.1 million households watching.

In other TV news, networks are introducing many new shows for the summer, which make it different from past summers when reruns predominated. NBC's new summer shows make up 40 percent of its lineup, with Crime & Punishment, a real life adaptation of Law & Order, leading the way. Fox's American Idol is one of its new shows. CBS will offer Big Brother III and ABC has Mole II, indicative of the reality shows that are coming back this summer. NBC is also introducing a game show, Dog Eat Dog, reminiscent of ABC's Millionaire, the top rated game show that also started during the summer.