TV Ratings : NCAA Final Puts CBS in the Winner’s Circle

Championship ratings for the NCAA basketball final between Arkansas and Duke, presumably aided by the attendance of President Clinton, helped propel CBS to a win last week in the A.C. Nielsen Co. ratings. The broadcast drew an estimated 51.4 million viewers--comparable to last year’s championship between Duke and Michigan--and finished No. 2 for the week.

“Home Improvement,” the season’s top-rated program, was No. 1 again for ABC. Overall, ABC had five of the Top 10 programs for the week and finished in second place, followed by NBC and Fox, according to Nielsen figures released Tuesday.

ABC seems to have found a strong new contender in the Ellen DeGeneres comedy series, “These Friends of Mine,” which retained 82% of the lead-in audience provided by “Home Improvement,” good enough to put the show in a tie for No. 4 with ABC’s “Roseanne.”

Meanwhile, CBS’ new family drama “Christy,” with Kellie Martin and Tyne Daly, moved to its regular time slot on Thursdays at 8 p.m., and claimed a strong second place behind NBC’s dominant combo of “Mad About You” and “Wings.”

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. Home Improvement KABC 22.3 2. Roseanne KABC 20.1 3. Coach KABC 19.3 4. 60 Minutes KCBS 18.7 5. These Friends of Mine KABC 16.5 6. The Simpsons KTTV 15.7 7. Seinfeld KNBC 15.5 8. Home Improvement (8 p.m.) KABC 14.9 9. Beverly Hills, 90210 KTTV 14.3 Melrose Place KTTV 14.3

Weekly Averages

CBS 12.9

ABC 11.9

NBC 9.8

FOX 6.8

Season to Date

CBS 14.1

ABC 12.5

NBC 11.1

FOX 7.2