Week 3 of the 1987-1988 season started on Monday, October 5th, 1987 and ended on Sunday, October 11th, 1987. The highest-rated program was NBC’s The Cosby Show with a 28.2/45 Nielsen rating/share and 41.6 million viewers according to AGB Television Research.
Here are the 10 lowest-rated programs on TV during Week 3 of the 1987-1988 season:
| ## | Program | Network | Rating | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | Ohara | ABC | 10.5/19 | 13,700,000 |
| 58 | Baseball Pre-Show (Friday) | NBC | 10.1/20 | 12,600,000 |
| My Sister Sam | CBS | 10.1/19 | 17,400,000 | |
| 60 | Everything’s Relative | CBS | 10.0/18 | 16,800,000 |
| 61 | Baseball Pre-Show (Saturday) | NBC | 9.6/19 | 14,300,000 |
| 62 | Sledge Hammer! | ABC | 9.3/15 | 14,200,000 |
| 63 | Leg Work | CBS | 8.6/16 | 14,800,000 |
| 64 | Carol Burnett Special (repeat) | ABC | 7.8/14 | 10,500,000 |
| 65 | West 57th | CBS | 7.6/15 | 10,800,000 |
| 66 | Max Headroom | ABC | 7.1/12 | 11,000,000 |
Copyright A.C. Nielsen Co. and AGB Television Research
Note: USA Today did not begin including FOX programming in its weekly rating charts until December 1988.
NBC only had two shows in the Bottom 10, both of which were baseball pre-game specials. The network aired seven playoff games during the week (three from the American League and four from the National League), most of which were preceded by relatively low-rated 15-minute pre-game specials. The highest-rated pre-game special ranked 42nd for the week; it aired prior to the first American League game on Wednesday, September 7th.
ABC and CBS split the remaining eight slots in the Bottom 10 with four each. Having cancelled its new sci-fi/comedy series Once a Hero after just three episodes, ABC replaced it on Saturday, October 10th with a repeat of its February 1987 special “Carol, Carl, Whoopi and Robin.” The repeat averaged a 7.8 Nielsen rating, up considerably from the 4.6 rating for the previous week’s Once a Hero but still a poor showing for the network.
ABC’s Max Headroom replaced Once a Hero as the lowest-rated program for the week. It actually improved slightly week-to-week, averaging a 7.1/12 Nielsen rating/share on Friday, October 9th. That was up from a 6.4/11 the week before. NBC’s baseball game likely pushed viewers hoping to watch Miami Vice at 9PM to ABC instead.
Likewise, ABC’s struggling Thursday line-up saw some improvement opposite baseball on NBC. Without A Different World airing from 8:30-9PM, The Charmings ranked 39th for the week, a huge jump from 66th place the previous week. Sledge Hammer, still had to face The Cosby Show from 8-8:30PM, which is why it ranked 62nd for the week.
With the exception of NBC’s baseball game and ABC’s Hotel, every single program aired on Saturday, October 10th landed at the bottom of the Nielsen chart for the week. That means for the second time in a row, the entire CBS line-up was in the Bottom 10. However, thanks to baseball pre-empting NBC’s regular line-up, all four CBS programs improved from the previous week.
Source:
“Using this chart.” USA Today. 14 Oct. 1987: 03.d
