All in the Family was second for second for CBS. Both networks placed five programs in the Top Ten, leaving ABC shut out completely. If I had to guess, I would say NBC may have been able to win the week thanks to the strength of the Academy Awards. For the record, the Academy Awards broadcast began at 10PM but I don’t know how long it lasted. It was preceded by “Bob Hope’s Cavalcade of Champions,” an hour-long special honoring the best in sports, which ranked fourth for the week. A repeat of the canceled Bridget Loves Bernie ranked seventh for the week.

Here’s the Top Ten, complete with Nielsen ratings:

Related posts:

1. Nielsen Top Ten, March 19th – March 25th, 1973
2. Nielsen Top Ten, March 12th – March 18th, 1973
3. Nielsen Top Ten, February 26th – March 4th, 1973

Here’s the Top Ten::

Genesis II, broadcast by CBS on Friday, March 23rd, tied for 18th with ABC’s The Rookies. The telefilm, written by Gene Roddenberry, was reworked as Planet Earth in 1974 and Strange New World in 1975, the latter without Roddenberry’s involvement. Both Genesis II and Planet Earth were released on DVD through WB’s Warner Archive program in October of 2009.

Source:

Related posts:

1. Nielsen Top Ten, March 26th – April 1st, 1973
2. Nielsen Top Ten, February 26th – March 4th, 1973
3. Nielsen Top Ten, February 19th – February 25th, 1973

CBS won the week with an average 20.6 Nielsen rating (equal to its rating the previous week), followed by NBC with a 16.6 rating (up slightly from a 16.4 rating) and ABC with a 16.1 rating (down sharply from a 17.6 rating). Here’s the Top Ten, complete with Nielsen ratings:

Here’s how the networks fared on Friday, March 16th, 1973. ABC aired The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family “Acts of Love — and Other Comedies,” and Love, American Style. CBS broadcast three specials: “The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine,” “Ed Sullivan’s Broadway” and “The Lily Tomlin Show.” NBC filled its schedule with Sanford & Son followed by two-and-a-half hours of hockey (Boston vs. Detroit).

Time	ABC	CBS	NBC
8:00PM	15.8/27	10.9/18	28.0/47
8:30PM	24.5/41	15.3/26 (avg)	7.1/12 (avg)
9:00PM	27.4/46 (avg)	15.3/26	7.1/12
9:30PM	27.4/46	15.3/26	7.1/12
10:00PM	18.5/53 (avg)	23.4/43 (avg)	7.1/12
10:30PM	18.5/53	23.4/43	7.1/12
Average	22.0/38	17.3/30	10.6/18

ABC did quite well with its line-up of regular series and specials. CBS was hurt by its Harlem Globetrotters special, which was a weak lead-in for “Ed Sullivan’s Broadway,” but recovered nicely at 10PM with “The Lily Tomlin Show.” As for NBC, despite the huge lead-in provided by Sanford & Son, viewers simply did not tune in for hockey.

Source:

Related posts:

1. Nielsen Top Ten, March 5th – March 11th, 1973
2. Nielsen Top Ten, February 26th – March 4th, 1973
3. Nielsen Top Ten, February 12th – February 18th, 1973

CBS won the week with an average 20.6 Nielsen rating (down from a 21.0 rating the previous week), followed by ABC with a 17.6 rating (down from a 17.7 rating) and NBC was a poor third with a 16.4 rating (down from an 18.2 rating). The 4.2 point gap between CBS and NBC was the largest since September of 1964. ABC’s second-place performance came despite its three-hour broadcast of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” which ranked dead last with a 6.5 Nielsen rating. Here’s the Top Ten, complete with Nielsen ratings:

Unfortunately, I don’t have the Nielsen shares of the audience for the bulk of the programs broadcast this week (The Los Angeles Times didn’t publish them past the 13th program) so I won’t be analyzing an entire night’s programming the way I typically do. Instead, I’ll just note some of the other programs of interest broadcast during the week. As The Los Angeles Times noted, it was a very poor week for television specials. A Bob Hope special, featuring Phil Harris, Al Hirt and Pete Fountain, broadcast on Wednesday, March 7th from 8:30-9:30PM, ranked 25th for the week with 21.3 rating. It was followed by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, starring Kirk Douglas as Jekyll and Hyde, which ranked 57th with a 9.2 rating.

“There’s No Time For Love, Charlie Brown,” broadcast by CBS on Sunday, March 11th from 7:30-8PM, ranked 31st with a 19.9 rating. ABC broadcast two hour-long pilots as part of The ABC Sunday Night Movie on Sunday, March 11th from 9-11. The first, Harry-O with David Jennsen, would premiere as a weekly series in the fall of 1974. The second, Intertect with Stuart Whitman, was not picked up. The broadcast ranked 44th with a 17.3 rating. The CBS Friday Movie (The Cincinnati Kid), a hasty replacement for Joseph’s Papp’s production of Sticks and Bones, ranked 52nd with a 14.4 rating. Sticks and Bones, a television version of David Rabe’s play, was a story about Vietnam and CBS decided against airing it at the last minute. It would eventually be broadcast in August of 1973.

“Arnold Palmer, American Legend,” an NBC special broadcast from 10-11PM on Friday, March 9th, ranked 58th with an 8.3 rating. CBS Reports ranked 59th with an identical 8.3 rating, followed by The NBC Tuesday Movie (The President’s Analyzt) with a 7.7 rating and NBC’s First Tuesday with a 7.6 rating.

ABC’s aforementioned Long Day’s Journey Into Night, which ran from 8-11PM on Saturday, March 10th, was last with a 6.5 Nielsen rating. It was butchered by the powerful CBS line-up. NBC did marginally better that evening. Emergency! ranked 26th with a 21.9 rating while The NBC Saturday Night Movie (Topkapi) ranked 54th with a 13.3 rating. For the evening as a whole, CBS averaged a 26.4 Nielsen rating, NBC a 16.2 rating and ABC a 6.5 rating. The three networks together averaged a 49.1 rating. The previous week, the networks averaged a 55.1 Nielsen rating on Saturday, March 3rd.

Source:

Related posts:

1. Nielsen Top Ten, March 19th – March 25th, 1973
2. Nielsen Top Ten, March 12th – March 18th, 1973
3. Nielsen Top Ten, February 5th – February 11th, 1973

CBS won the week with an average 21.0 Nielsen rating (up from a 19.9 rating the previous week), followed by NBC with an 18.2 rating (down from an 19.2 rating) and ABC with an 18.1 rating (up from a 17.7 rating). Here’s the Top Ten, complete with Nielsen ratings:

And here are the five lowest-rated programs of the week:

Here We Go Again averaged an 11% share of the audience, which was actually an improvement from the previous week when it only drew 9% of the audience.

Here’s how the networks fared on Saturday, March 3rd, 1973. ABC aired Here We Go Again, A Touch of Grace, The Julie Andrews Hour and The Men (Jigsaw). CBS broadcast All in the Family, Bridget Loves Bernie, The Mary Tyler Moore, The Bob Newhart Show and the 15th Grammy Awards. NBC filled its schedule with Emergency! and the NBC World Premiere Movie, which this week featured a made-for-TV movie called A Time for Love, pilot for an anthology series about love in which two loosely connected stories were told, each with their own cast.

Time	ABC	CBS	NBC
8:00PM	6.8/11	34.0/54	21.1/34 (avg)
8:30PM	11.8/19	21.5/33	21.1/34
9:00PM	10.9/18 (avg)	25.6/41	16.7/28 (avg)
9:30PM	10.9/18	23.6/33	16.7/28
10:00PM	8.8/15 (avg)	29.6/53 (avg)	16.7/28
10:30PM	8.8/15	29.6/53	16.7/28
Average	9.6/16	27.3/45	18.2/30

Note that Bridget Loves Bernie lost a considerable portion of its lead-in. Notice also that The Mary Tyler Moore Show was able to draw some of those viewers back. This was the season and series finale of Bridget Loves Bernie; The Mary Tyler Moore Show also ended its season on the evening of March 3rd. Even more interesting is the fact that A Touch of Grace was able to improve significantly on Here We Go Again. This could be attributed to the relative weak performance of Bridget Loves Bernie or perhaps A Touch of Grace was simply seen on more affiliates than Here We Go Again.

Source:

Related posts:

1. Nielsen Top Ten, March 26th – April 1st, 1973
2. Nielsen Top Ten, February 19th – February 25th, 1973
3. Nielsen Top Ten, January 29th – February 4th, 1973

Two movie nights were also in the Top Ten: NBC Saturday Night at the Movies (I Walk the Line) and The ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week (A Brand New Life). CBS won the week with an average 19.9 Nielsen rating, followed by NBC with a 19.2 rating and ABC with a 17.7 rating. Here’s the Top Ten, complete with Nielsen ratings:

And here are the five lowest-rated programs of the week:

Here We Go Again had a 9% share of the audience. That would be considered mediocre even by today’s standards, let alone 1973.

Here’s how the networks fared on Thursday, February 22nd. ABC aired The Mod Squad, Kung Fu and The Streets of San Francisco. CBS broadcast The Waltons and The CBS Thursday Movie (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?). NBC filled its schedule with The Flip Wilson Show, Ironside and The Dean Martin Show.

Time	ABC	CBS	NBC
8:00PM	15.3/23 (avg)	22.8/34 (avg)	24.1/36 (avg)
8:30PM	15.3/23	22.8/34	24.1/36
9:00PM	19.2/29 (avg)	18.2/32 (avg)	22.7/34 (avg)
9:30PM	19.2/29	18.2/32	22.7/34
10:00PM	17.9/30 (avg)	18.2/32	16.4/29 (avg)
10:30PM	17.9/30	18.2/32	16.4/29
Average	17.5/27	19.7/32	16.4/29

Notice that despite losing the 10-11PM hour NBC was still able to win the night by a comfortable margin. Furthermore, even though it performed relatively poorly in the Nielsen ratings The Dean Martin Show would stay on the air until May of 1974.

Source:

Related posts:

1. Nielsen Top Ten, March 19th – March 25th, 1973
2. Nielsen Top Ten, February 26th – March 4th, 1973
3. Nielsen Top Ten, February 12th – February 18th, 1973

One program of interest, identified in the Nielsen list as “Arrival Of POW’s,” ranked 33rd with an 18.6 rating and a 30% share of the audience. I don’t know which network this program aired on or even when it aired; I can’t find any mention of a program about the return of POWs during prime time during the week, which suggests it may have been a last minute pre-emption. Certainly, there was plenty of coverage throughout the week, on various early morning and evening news programs.

Here’s the Top Ten, complete with Nielsen ratings:

Here’s how CBS and NBC fared on Sunday, February 18th opposite The ABC Sunday Night Movie and The 10 Commandments. Note that prime time on ABC didn’t begin until 8PM, meaning affiliates aired local programming from 7:30-8PM. CBS and NBC, on the other hand, began prime time at 7:30PM but ended at 10:30PM, meaning the 10:30-11PM half hour was filled with local programming. For the record, CBS broadcast The New Dick Van Dyke Show, M*A*S*H, Mannix and Barnaby Jones. NBC aired The Wonderful World of Disney and The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie (Hec Ramsey).

Time	ABC	CBS	NBC
7:30PM	N/A	20.9/33 (avg)	18.0/30
8:00PM	33.2/54 (avg)	20.9/33	15.9/24
8:30PM	33.2/54	15.6/22 (avg)	15.9/23 (avg)
9:00PM	33.2/54	15.6/22	15.9/23
9:30PM	33.2/54	13.9/21 (avg)	15.9/23
10:00PM	33.2/54	13.9/21	15.9/23
10:30PM	33.2/54	N/A	N/A
Average	33.2/54	12.9/23	17.5/26

As always, be aware that The 10 Commandments didn’t draw a 33.2 Nielsen rating and a 54% of the audience during every half-hour. It likely grew as the evening progressed. The broadcast actually didn’t end until after midnight (either 12:15AM or 12:30AM) and I would be interested in seeing when it peaked. Were viewers willing to stay up until 12:30AM to see the end of the movie?

Source:

Related posts:

1. Nielsen Top Ten, March 12th – March 18th, 1973
2. Nielsen Top Ten, February 19th – February 25th, 1973
3. Nielsen Top Ten, January 29th – February 4th, 1973

In sixth place was the premiere of NBC’s Escape, a half-hour pseudo-documentary series narrated by Jack Webb, in which stories of bravery and adventure were presented. It was the first of four episodes broadcast between February and April of 1973. In tenth place was NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, which this week presented The Andromeda Strain. Based solely on the Top Ten, which included seven NBC programs and just three on CBS, it stands to reason that NBC was first for the week. But I don’t have the weekly averages at hand.

Here are the Top Ten:

Related posts:

1. Nielsen Top Ten, March 5th – March 11th, 1973
2. Nielsen Top Ten, February 19th – February 25th, 1973
3. Nielsen Top Ten, February 12th – February 18th, 1973

Here’s how the networks fared on Monday, January 29th, 1973. ABC broadcast The Rookies and THE ABC Monday Night Movies. (Lawrence of Arabia, Part 2). CBS aired Gunsmoke, Here’s Lucy, The Doris Day Show and The Bill Cosby Show. NBC’s filled its schedule with Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and The NBC Monday Night at the Movies (Diary of a Mad Housewife).

Time	ABC	CBS	NBC
8:00PM	21.5/31 (avg)	23.0/33 (avg)	19.1/27 (avg)
8:30PM	21.5/31	23.0/33	19.1/27
9:00PM	17.9/28 (avg)	20.0/29	27.1/42 (avg)
9:30PM	17.9/28	17.0/25	27.1/42
10:00PM	17.9/28 (avg)	11.6/19 (avg)	27.1/42 (avg)
10:30PM	17.9/28	11.6/19	27.1/42
Average	16.3/25	17.7/27	27.9/42

NBC won the evening as a whole thanks to the strong showing for Diary of a Mad Housewife from 9-11PM, despite ranking third during the 8-9PM hour. CBS, on the other hand, won the 8-9PM hour but ranked third for the evening due to a poor showing of The Bill Cosby Show. That left ABC in second place.

On Friday, February 4th, CBS aired a videotaped version of the New York Shakespeare Festival’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” produced by Joseph Papp and starring Sam Waterston and Kathleen Widdoes. The three-hour broadcast ranked a dismal 60th out of 64 programs for the week. Obviously, the network ranked third for the evening. Both ABC and NBC aired their regular line-ups: The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Room 222 and Love, American Style on ABC; Sanford and Son, Little People, Circle of Fear and The Bobby Darin Show on NBC.

Time	ABC	CBS	NBC
8:00PM	19.3/31	9.5/16 (avg)	31.0/49
8:30PM	23.5/37	9.5/16	22.5/35
9:00PM	22.0/36 (avg)	9.5/16	21.0/34 (avg)
9:30PM	22.0/36	9.5/16	21.0/34
10:00PM	24.4/44 (avg)	9.5/16	16.4/29 (avg)
10:30PM	24.4/44	9.5/16	16.4/29
Average	19.3/38	9.5/16	21.4/35

Notice that the flow of audience for ABC and NBC were direct opposites; ABC saw its audience grow as the evening progressed while NBC saw its audience decline. Still, on the strength of Sanford and Son NBC was able to win the evening with a 21.4 Nielsen rating; ABC ranked a competitive second with a 19.3 rating. However, ABC actually had a larger share of the audience, 38% compared to 35% for NBC. As always, these ratings and shares are based on program averages. Conceivably, CBS could have actually ranked second (or even first) during any given half-hour, with the remainder of the evening rating so poorly that it pulled down the entire average. But that’s unlikely.

The three networks combined averaged a 50.2 Nielsen rating and an 89% share of the audience. The previous Friday (January 26th) the networks averaged a 52.0 Nielsen rating and an 85% share of the audience. In other words, the same number of households were watching television on February 3rd. They just weren’t watching CBS.

Source:

Related posts:

1. Nielsen Top Ten, February 26th – March 4th, 1973
2. Nielsen Top Ten, February 12th – February 18th, 1973
3. Nielsen Top Ten, January 15th – January 21st, 1973

Not a single movie night was in the Top Ten; The ABC Wednesday Movie (Go Ask Alice) was the top-rated movie night for the week, ranking 15th. ABC’s new sitcom, Here We Go Again, which it introduced the previous week, ranked last. For the week as a whole, CBS was first with an average 21.7 Nielsen rating, up from a 19.1 rating the previous week. NBC ranked second with a 19.7 (down from a 20.6 rating) and ABC brought up the rear with a 17.3 rating (down from an 18.6 rating). Here’s the Top Ten, complete with Nielsen ratings:

Would could have caused the “spectacular climb” of Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law on ABC? The episode, broadcast on Wednesday, January 24th from 10-11PM, concerned Owen Marshall’s niece, who sued her husband for divorce and in a counter-suit was accused of committing adultery. The twist: their son was conceived through artificial insemination and that is the adultery, according to the husband. Arthur Hill starred as Owen Marshall, Martin Sheen and Jess Walton played the couple. It’s unlikely that the guest stars were the reason for the huge jump. And I doubt the content of the episode drew in viewers. So what about the competition?

The previous week’s episode, broadcast on Wednesday, January 17th, competed from 10-11PM with Cannon on CBS and “Cole Porter in Paris” on NBC. Its lead-in was a made-for-TV movie called Female Artillery with Dennis Weaver and Ida Lupino. Here’s how the networks fared that evening:

Time	ABC	CBS	NBC
8:00PM	16.3/24	19.7/28 (avg)	26.5/39
8:30PM	16.0/23 (avg)	19.7/28	34.1/49 (avg)
9:00PM	16.0/23	14.7/21 (avg)	34.1/49
9:30PM	16.0/23	14.7/21	34.1/49
10:00PM	16.7/29 (avg)	18.7/33 (avg)	19.2/34 (avg)
10:30PM	16.7/29	18.7/33	19.2/34
Average	16.3/25	17.7/27	27.9/42

NBC had a huge advantage thanks to “The Bob Hope Christmas Special,” which aired from 8:30-10PM and overwhelmed its competition. ABC ranked third for the evening as a whole, although it beat NBC’s Medical Center during the 9-10PM hour, and Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law was third in its time slot. What was different on Wednesday, January 24th?

First of all, NBC broadcast a new episode SEARCH, which did not do as well as “Cole Porter in Paris.” More importantly, the lead-in for Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law was much, much stronger. Finally, at the last minute CBS pre-empted its scheduled episode of Cannon in favor of a news special on Vietnam. A huge lead-in thanks to The ABC Wednesday Night Movie and weak competition from CBS and NBC created the perfect conditions for Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law to thrive.

Here’s the evening’s ratings:

Time	ABC	CBS	NBC
8:00PM	16.8/26	18.6/28 (avg)	25.0/39
8:30PM	23.7/36 (avg)	18.6/28	19.4/29 (avg)
9:00PM	23.7/36	18.4/28 (avg)	19.4/29
9:30PM	23.7/36	18.4/28	19.4/29
10:00PM	24.6/43 (avg)	11.4/20 (avg)	16.8/29 (avg)
10:30PM	24.6/43	11.4/20	16.8/29
Average	23.0/37	16.1/25	19.5/31

Note that Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law actually did slightly better than The ABC Wednesday Movie, at least based on this average Nielsen ratings. CBS pre-empting Cannon meant many households who would have been watching CBS from 10-11PM stayed on ABC instead, preferring Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law to a news special on Vietnam. For the record, the episode of Cannon that was supposed to air on January 24th (“The Prisoners”) was rescheduled for February 21st.

Source:

Related posts:

1. Nielsen Top Ten, January 15th – January 21st, 1973
2. Nielsen Top Ten, January 1st – January 7th, 1973
3. Nielsen Top Ten, January 9th – January 22nd, 1967