This is a little embarrassing but it turns out I only have the spottiest of information regarding Nielsen ratings for the third week of the 1972-1973 season, which ran from Monday, September 25th, 1972 through Sunday, October 1st, 1972. I can tell you that the top program was Love Story, broadcast as part of The ABC Sunday Night Movie, which drew a 42.3/62 Nielsen rating. It was at the time the highest-rated movie ever broadcast on television, topping NBC’s 1968 airing of The Birds, which had a 38.9 rating. Fourth was another movie, Cactus Flower, which was broadcast on Saturday, September 30th on NBC. I am looking in to filling out the rest of the Top Ten for this week and earlier weeks This week and the previous two weeks have been filled out; starting next week I will have all the programs in the Top Ten complete with ratings.
Once again I only have the Nielsen ratings for the first two programs but going forward I should have ratings for the entire Top Ten.
Thursday, December 24th, 2009 Update: Bill was kind enough to contribute the bulk of the Nielsen ratings for this week.
## | Program | Net | Rating |
---|---|---|---|
1. | ABC Sunday Night Movie | ABC | 42.3 |
2. | All in the Family | CBS | 33.2 |
3. | Marcus Welby, M.D. | ABC | 28.3 |
4. | NBC Saturday Movie | NBC | 28.1 |
5. | Bridget Loves Bernie | CBS | 25.5 |
6. | The F.B.I. | ABC | 24.8 |
7. | Sanford and Son | NBC | 24.7 |
8. | Maude | CBS | 24.5 |
9. | The ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week | ABC | 23.8 |
10. | Ironside | NBC | 23.7 |
Sources:
I’m quite sure that most of the previous week’s “Top Ten” entries- CBS’ “ALL IN THE FAMILY”, “BRIDGET LOVES BERNIE”, “GUNSMOKE”, “MAUDE”, “HAWAII FIVE-O” and NBC’s “THE FLIP WILSON SHOW”- are here as well.
Some additional ratings info on the movies:
1. The ABC Sunday Night Movie – LOVE STORY (ABC) 42.3HH/62%
4. NBC Saturday Night at the Movies – CACTUS FLOWER (NBC) 28.1HH/46%