'Meet' greets yearlong title as No. 1
'Passions' wane in 2nd week
Boosted by coverage of the crash of John F. Kennedy Jr.'s plane, "Meet" averaged a 4.9 rating/16 share, a jump of 63% from the same week a year ago. CBS' "Face the Nation" (3.8/11) was second, followed by ABC's "This Week" (1.6/7) and "Fox News Sunday" (1.1/4). Numbers for "This Week" were abnormally low due to preemptions for ABC Sports' broadcast of the British Open.
Russert said "Meet's" yearlong ride at the top of the Nielsen ratings is gratifying considering the intense Sunday morning competish and the fact that "people on and off the air work so hard" in producing the show.
"It's an affirmation that you're doing something right," Russert told Daily Variety. "We hope we're contributing to the national dialogue on public affairs."
Meanwhile, the ratings news was less encouraging last week for fledgling NBC sudser "Passions." The serial dropped to a .9/6 in the key daytime demo of women 18-49, an 18% decline from its premiere-week ratings. In total viewers, "Passions" went from 2.45 million viewers to 2.02 million.
"Passions" did better among teen females 12-17, ranking third for the week. Still, it had finished second in this demo its premiere week.
