Viewing zooms for ayem shows in Inaugural week

By RICHARD HUFF

"CBS This Morning" earned its highest rating in the program's history during the Jan. 18-22 Nielsen week but still ranked third, as viewing surged for all three morning shows.

The week past was also very good to the Fox Children's Network, which emerged with the top-rated lineup among kids for the second time in three weeks.

In a week marked by higher-than-average ratings among all three network ayem shows, "CBS This Morning" generated a 3.7 rating, 15 share for the four days recorded. That's 42% higher than the rating earned for the same week a year ago and is up 19% on the season.

ABC's top-rated offering, "Good Morning America" (5.0/20), posted its best ratings since February 1991 and NBC's "Today" (4.8/20) did one of its better numbers in four years. "Today" had its highest household average since election week. All of the morning averages are based on a four-day week because of preemptions forced by coverage of the Inauguration.

On a season-to-date basis, "GMA" is tops, averaging a 4.4/19 to "Today's" 4.2 /19 and "CBS This Morning's" 3.1/14.

CBS continued its stranglehold on the daytime marketplace to notch its 203rd consecutive weekly win. With six of the top 10 highest-rated daytime shows, CBS averaged a 6.1/20 household rating. ABC averaged a 5.5/18 and NBC a 3.4/11.

However, among the key women age 18-49 demographic, ABC's daytime schedule scores highest, posting a 4.5 for the week among that demo to CBS's 3.5 and NBC's 1.9.

With kids age 2-11, Fox's Saturday schedule generated a 6.0/23 to take the top honors. CBS was second at 5.4/21 and ABC--which will shuffle its lineup as of Feb. 6-- drew a 5.2/20. Fox's top ranking was anchored with five of the top 10 shows among kids, including a second-place finish by "X-Men."

Saturday mornings, going by household ratings, see CBS on top with a 3.3/12 to a 3.2/11 each for Fox and ABC. NBC, with its teen-skewing late-morning block (10 a.m.-noon), earned its best rating of the season with a 3.8/12 in households.

NBC's "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" averaged a 4.8/15 for its hour on the air but was outdistanced by "Nightline" (5.9/16) in their common half-hour due largely to inaugural tune-in. CBS's "Crimetime" was third with a 3.1/10. "Tonight" remains on an upward trend in key adult demographics.