Nielsen Bottom 10, November 30th-December 6th, 1987

Week 11 of the 1987-1988 season started on Monday, November 30th, 1987 and ended on Sunday, December 6th, 1987. The highest-rated programs were A Different World and The Cosby Show on NBC, which each drew a 24.9/38 Nielsen rating/share. 33.5 million viewers watched A Different World, according to AGB Television Research, while 32.4 watched The Cosby Show.

Here are the 10 lowest-rated programs on TV during Week 10 of the 1987-1988 season:

## Program Network Rating Viewers
60 Ohara ABC 8.0/14 12,400,000
61 Plaza Suite (movie) ABC 7.9/13 11,000,000
62 Sledge Hammer! ABC 7.4/11 10,700,000
63 The Oldest Rookie CBS 7.1/12 11,600,000
64 Sable ABC 7.0/12 10,700,000
65 West 57th CBS 6.9/13 10,300,000
66 Jennings-Koppel Report (special) ABC 6.4/10 7,700,000
67 Houston Knights CBS 5.8/9 9,300,000
68 CBS Reports: Children of Apartheid (special) CBS 5.2/9 9,700,000
69 Twilight Zone (special) (repeat) CBS 4.3/7 8,200,000

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.

It was a somewhat atypical week for the networks due to the upcoming Washington Summit between President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union (held December 8th-10th). That impacted the Bottom 10 to some degree. It was an even split between ABC and CBS with each placing five shows in the Bottom 10. Most were regular bottom dwellers like Ohara, The Oldest Rookie, and Houston Knights.

On Monday, November 30th from 8-9PM, NBC broadcast “A Conversation with Mikhail S. Gorbachev,” taped the previous Sunday in Russia. Tom Brokaw conducted the interview. It was the first time a journalist from the United States had a one-on-one interview with Gorbachev. Because the hour-long special wasn’t sponsored, it wasn’t ranked by Nielsen. It was rated, however, and its 9.9 rating would have tied it for 54th for the week.

Also not sponsored was a half-hour taped interview of President Reagan by anchors from ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN. Both ABC and NBC aired it from 8-8:30PM on Thursday, December 3rd while CBS aired it at 11:30PM. CNN aired it at 8:30PM.

Two specials that were sponsored landed in the Bottom 10 this week. CBS aired an installment of The Jennings-Koppel Report covering the Washington Summit from 10-11PM on Sunday, December 6th and ranked 66th for the week. “CBS Reports: The Children of Apartheid” aired from 8-9PM on Saturday, December 5th and ranked 68th for the week. CBS decided to air a repeat of The Twilight Zone from 9-10PM on Saturday. It ranked last for the week.

Also of note: “A Tribute to Dar Robinson” (ABC, Monday, Noember 30th) ranked 37th for the week; a two-hour Presidential Debate (BC, Tuesday, December 1st) ranked 57th; “All Star Party for Joan Collins” (CBS, Wednesday, December 2nd) tied for 51st; and the season premiere of Simon & Simon (CBS, Thursday, December 3rd) ranked 47th.

Sources:
Carmody, John. “The TV Column.” Washington Post. 4 Dec. 1987: d10.
“Using this chart.” USA Today. 9 Dec. 1987: 03.d


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One Reply to “Nielsen Bottom 10, November 30th-December 6th, 1987”

  1. …and the season premiere of Simon & Simon (CBS, Thursday, December 3rd) ranked 47th.

    Strange. Why didn’t CBS wait and premiere the new season in January instead of dumping it in December.

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