'Starting Over' on a roll

'Insider,' 'Pauley' on the rise while 'Danza' takes a dip

By ZACHARY PINCUS-ROTH

"Starting Over" was the big syndication winner during the first full week of February sweeps (Feb. 7-13), hitting a national rating of 1.3, the highest mark in its 1½-year history.

Skein was the only syndie strip to hit a new season high, and it's up 30% from the same week last year -- the biggest improvement of any strip.

Among rookies, "The Insider" was up 8% to 2.8; "Jane Pauley" rose 6% to 1.7; and "Tony Danza" dipped 7% to 1.3. Both "Ambush Makeover" and "Larry Elder" were up a tenth to 1.1, while "Pat Croce" was down a tenth to 0.6 and "Life & Style" was unchanged at 0.5.

The sweeps heralded an upward trend overall as the five top talkshows and five of the seven gavelers increased, with the other two unchanged. Results from gameshows and newsmags were mixed.