Week 24 of the 1987-1988 season started on Monday, February 29th, 1988 and ended on Sunday, March 6th, 1988. The highest-rated program was The Cosby Show on NBC with a 31.4/48 Nielsen rating/share and 46.5 million viewers according to AGB Television Research.
Here are the 10 lowest-rated programs on TV during Week 24 of the 1987-1988 season:
| ## | Program | Network | Rating | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58 | High Mountain Rangers | CBS | 10.3/18 | 16,000,000 |
| Dolly | ABC | 10.3/18 | 16,300,000 | |
| Our House | NBC | 10.3/17 | 18,700,000 | |
| 61 | Blue Thunder (repeat) | ABC | 9.5/15 | 13,000,000 |
| 62 | Thorns | ABC | 9.4/16 | 9,700,000 |
| 63 | Disney Movie | ABC | 9.3/15 | 13,500,000 |
| 64 | Willie Nelson Special (special) | CBS | 8.5/14 | 15,200,000 |
| 65 | West 57th | CBS | 8.2/15 | 11,500,000 |
| 66 | Sledge Hammer! | ABC | 5.5/8 | 7,400,000 |
| 67 | Political Campaign | ABC | 3.5/6 | 5,000,000 |
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.
With the 1988 Winter Olympics over it was back to normal for the networks. That meant 67 programs on the air during the week, up significantly from 54 the previous week when ABC only broadcast Olympic coverage. ABC placed five shows in the Bottom 10. CBS had four. Only one NBC program was at the bottom of the weekly chart: Our House, which tied for 58th.
The lowest-rated program on the air was a half-hour paid political announcement for Lyndon LaRouche. It aired on ABC from 8-8:30PM on Thursday, March 3rd–opposite The Cosby Show. It was the worst time slot possible but likely also the cheapest.
Following at 8:30PM was a repeat of recently-cancelled Sledge Hammer!, which ranked just above the political announcement. ABC probably realized there was no point running original programming from 8:30-9PM and slotted a repeat it already paid for. A repeat of the movie Blue Thunder followed 9PM and also ranked in the Bottom 10.
“Willie Nelson: Texas Style” flopped for CBS on Saturday, March 5th. It actually lost a portion of its High Mountain Rangers lead-in. The special did perform better than West 57th at 10PM, however.
ABC’s woes continued on Sunday with the first part of 14 Going on 30 on The Disney Sunday Movie. It was easily the lowest-rated program of the night.
Also of note: “Superman Anniversary” (CBS, Monday, February 29th) tied for 54th for the week; a repeat of “Candid Camera Anniversary” (CBS, Tuesday, March 1st) tied for 54th as well; Hooperman (ABC, Wednesday, March 2nd) tied for 36th; Tour of Duty (CBS, Thursday, March 3rd) ranked 48th; Sonny Spoon (NBC, Friday, March 4th) tied for 45th; and “Tribute to Bob Hope” (NBC, Saturday, March 5th) tied for 45th.
Source:
“Using this chart.” USA Today. 9 Mar. 1988: 03.d
Sledge Hammer is now on MeTV Sunday night/Monday morning from 2-3AM ET (two shows back-to-back).