ABC tops on, like, y'know, Wednesdays

CBS hurting with 'Payne'

By TOM BIERBAUM

ABC is off to a hot start with its late-season Wednesday rookies "Norm" and "It's like, you know...," while CBS' "Payne" has suffered another series of Wednesday injuries.

The night's Nielsens were disrupted in the East by President Clinton's address on Kosovo, but the verdict was still clearly promising for the new ABC sitcoms and bleak for "Payne."

"Norm" premiered in the 9:30-10 p.m. half-hour with a 9.3 rating, 15 share in homes and a 7.2/18 in adults 18-49, retaining 100% of its 18-49 leadin from "Drew Carey" (9.5/15 in homes, 7.2/18 in adults 18-49). "Norm" won its half-hour by 5 shares in adults 18-49 and by 1 share in homes.

Slot predecessor "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" averaged an 11% falloff with its last five airings to follow firstrun episodes of "Drew Carey."

Wins slot

At 8:30, "It's like, you know..." (8.7/14 in homes, 5.6/16 in adults 18-49) won its slot by 4 shares in adults 18-49 after following Clinton in the East and Midwest, and "Dharma & Greg" in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.

In the 10 western metered markets where "It's" followed "Dharma," the new sitcom built by an average 4% on its homes leadin (11.1/17 vs. 10.7/17). In national Nielsens, "It's" was up 27% over the 18-49 rating of the Clinton speech analysis (with a 5.6 rating vs. a 4.4).

Slot predecessor "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" averaged a 12% falloff vs. lead-in in homes and a 4% falloff in adults 18-49 with its last five episodes to air after firstrun regular-slot "Dharma" installments.

'Payne' staggers

"Payne" (5.8/9 in homes, 2.2/6 in adults 18-49) was scheduled to lead off CBS' Wednesday lineup for the first time March 24 but was bumped to 8:30 by the Clinton speech. The resulting "Payne" ratings were the lowest for any Big Four program aired Wednesday night.

CBS is also misfiring at 10 p.m., where the fading "Chicago Hope" (6.2/11 in homes, 3.1/9 in adults 18-49) declined to its lowest-ever firstrun homes rating.

Boosted by its strong comedy premieres, ABC won the night by 2 shares in adults 18-49 over runner-up NBC (5.8/16 vs. 5.0/14), while the Peacock edged ABC in homes (9.6/16 vs. 9.0/15). CBS equaled its lowest Wednesday 18-49 rating since Dec. 30 (2.7/8).

Each household rating point represents an estimated 994,000 homes, or 1% of the country's TV households. Each adults 18-49 rating point reps 1.239 million viewers, 1% of the U.S. total. A share is the same sort of percentage, except it's measured against only the homes or viewers watching TV during the timeslot involved.