Bartlet4America News Archive

Strong 'West Wing' Helps NBC Win Wednesday

Zap2it.com

Fresh off its fourth Emmy win for best drama, "The West Wing" beat back its unscripted competition and contributed to NBC's ratings victory Wednesday.

NBC averaged a 10.7 rating/17 share in primetime to lead second-place ABC, 8.4/13, by a comfortable margin. CBS was third at 6.6/11, followed by FOX, 4.3/7; UPN, 1.9/3; and The WB, 1.5/2.

ABC managed to score a narrow victory among adults 18-49 with a 5.9 rating for the night. NBC was close behind at 5.8. CBS averaged 3.0 in the demographic, FOX 2.9, UPN 1.2 and The WB 0.8.

The hour-long season premiere of "My Wife and Kids," 8.6/14, won the 8 p.m. hour for ABC. "Ed" began its season with a 7.4/12 for NBC. CBS came in third with "60 Minutes II," 7.1/12. The first hour of the "Performing As" finale on FOX was fourth. "Enterprise" averaged 2.5/4 for UPN. "Hilary Duff's Island Birthday Bash" on The WB finished sixth.

At 9 p.m., "The West Wing" began its fifth season with a strong 11.6/18, easily beating the first hour of "The Bachelor's" premiere on ABC, 7.5/11. The finale of "Big Brother 4" scored a 7.0/11 for CBS. The conclusion of "Performing As" kept FOX in fourth. UPN held on to the fifth spot with "Jake 2.0." The WB aired an encore of the "One Tree Hill" premiere to a 1.5/2.

"Law & Order," 13.1/21, won the 10 p.m. hour for NBC and drew the night's biggest audience. "The Bachelor" improved to 9.1/15 in its second hour. The premiere of "The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H." averaged 5.7/9 for CBS.