TV Ratings : ‘Walton Reunion’ Clobbers Kennedy Specials

The great outdoors led to great ratings for CBS last week, as two shows set in the country scored big and helped the network take the lead in the crucial November sweeps network race.

A large audience feasted on the special “A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion.” The CBS Sunday movie scored its highest ratings of the season with a 20.1/32 share. A two-hour “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” on Saturday also proved popular. The Western-themed show landed in the No. 10 spot and also earned its highest ratings of the season.

ABC, which had finished first the last three weeks, was second, NBC third and Fox fourth.

“The Walton’s” special in particular gave ABC little reason to feel festive. The movie clobbered the first part of ABC’s two-part “JFK: Reckless Youth,” which ranked at No. 71. Other specials centered around the 30th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination did not fare well either: NBC’s “Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald” was at No. 44, CBS Reports “Who Killed JFK?” was No. 58 and CBS’ “Jack” finished at No. 65.

Southland Ratings

Here are A. C. Nielsen’s Top 10 prime-time programs in the Los Angeles area during the same week. Each rating point equals 50,064 households.

Program Station Rating 1. The Simpsons KTTV 20.6 2. Roseanne KABC 19.9 3. Home Improvement KABC 19.4 4. 60 Minutes KCBS 18.8 5. Beverly Hills, 90210 KTTV 18.0 6. 20/20 KABC 17.1 7. Coach KABC 17.0 8. Seinfeld KNBC 16.6 9. Melrose Place KTTV 15.9 10. NYPD Blue KABC 14.7

Weekly Averages

CBS: 14.7

ABC: 12.6

NBC: 11.0

FOX: 7.7

Season to Date

CBS: 13.4

ABC: 12.9

NBC: 11.3

FOX: 7.3