Griffith, Lynch big Tuesday draws
Morning Ratings Flash - Rick Kissell
From 8 to 9, the Griffith spec on CBS averaged a slot-leading 4.6 rating/13 share in adults 18-49 and 21.5 million viewers overall - a rare demo victory in the hour for the net and its largest aud with entertainment programming here in about eight years. "The Guardian," which followed at 9, posted its best numbers of the season (3.1/8 in adults 18-49, 12.7 million viewers overall).
ABC, which won the night in adults 18-49, was paced by strong scores for Diane Sawyer's chat with Lynch (5.8/15 in adults 18-49, 15.5 million viewers overall), which produced the net's best Tuesday numbers from 9:30 to 11 in about two years. Kicking off the night, the second episode of "8 Simple Rules" without John Ritter led its half-hour in 18-49 (4.5/13) and drew 11.6 million viewers overall.
NBC placed second in the 10 o'clock hour with "Law & Order: SVU" (4.9/13 in adults 18-49, 12.9 million viewers overall), but earlier in the evening, "Whoopi" (2.6/7 in adults 18-49, 8.1 million viewers overall) looked a bit soft after a one-week hiatus.
Fox improved its standing in the 8 o'clock hour by going with two repeats of "That '70s Show" (averaging 3.3/9 in adults 18-49, 6.6 million viewers overall), and that helped "24" (4.0/10 in adults 18-49, 8.8 million viewers overall) improve vs. last week.
At the WB, "Gilmore Girls" (2.1/6 in adults 18-49, 5.3 million viewers overall) delivered one of its best scores in weeks, ranking third in 18-34 (2.6/8).
Preliminary 18-49 averages: ABC, 5.1/13; NBC, 3.8/10; Fox, 3.7/10; CBS, 3.6/10; WB, 1.8/5; UPN, 1.3/5.
In total viewers: CBS, 15.3 million; ABC, 13.1 million; NBC, 10.3 million; Fox, 7.7 million; WB, 4.6 million; UPN, 3.1 million.
