Here are the first ten programs from the fourth Nielsen Television Index (NTI) report for the 1966-1967 television season, covering the seventh and eighth weeks of the season, from Monday, October 24th, 1966 through Sunday, November 6th, 1966. They were published in the November 28th, 1966 edition of Broadcasting. Note that the Nielsen ratings are the average of both week’s programming except in the case of special programming or pre-emptions.
There were four specials in the top ten during these two weeks and three regularly scheduled programs were only broadcast once due to pre-emptions. NBC’s Bonanza and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” on CBS (aired Thursday, October 27th) tied for first place with a massive 31.6 Nielsen rating. “Lucy in London,” broadcast by CBS on Monday, October 24th (pre-empting The Lucy Show), was third. The October 31st episode of The Lucy Show was fifth.
Another special, NBC’s “Shipstads and Johnsons Ice Follies,” tied for sixth with the Saturday, October 29th episode The Jackie Gleason Show on CBS (the November 5th episode was pre-empted by “Dr. Leakey and the Dawn of Man”). And NBC’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” broadcast Sunday, November 6th, was ninth. Rounding out the top ten were several CBS sitcoms, including the Monday, October 31st episode of The Andy Griffith Show (“Lucy in London” pre-empted the October 24th episode).
| ## | Program | Network | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Bonanza | NBC | 31.6 |
| It’s the Great Pumpkin (Special) | CBS | 31.6 | |
| 3. | Lucy in London (Special) | CBS | 31.4 |
| 4. | The Red Skelton Show | CBS | 27.6 |
| 5. | The Lucy Show* | CBS | 27.1 |
| 6. | Ice Follies (Special) | CBS | 25.3 |
| The Jackie Gleason Show* | CBS | 25.3 | |
| 8. | Green Acres | CBS | 24.6 |
| 9. | Alice Thru Looking Glass (Special) | NBC | 24.2 |
| 10. | The Andy Griffith Show* | CBS | 23.9 |
*Broadcast one week only
Sources:
“The Nielsens.” Broadcasting. 28 Nov. 1966: 84
