Week 11 of the 1973-1974 season started on Monday, November 19th, 1973 and ended on Sunday, November 25th, 1973. The highest-rated program was All in the Family on CBS with a 32.2/51 Nielsen rating/share. Here are the 10 lowest-rated programs:
| ## | Program | Network | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | Love Story | NBC | 13.3/23 |
| 51 | College Football | ABC? | 13.2/27 |
| 52 | New Perry Mason | CBS | 13.1/20 |
| 53 | Brian Keith | NBC | 12.7/22 |
| 54 | Temperature’s Rising | ABC | 12.6/19 |
| 55 | Needles and Pins | NBC | 12.3/20 |
| 56 | Love, American Style | ABC | 12.0/20 |
| 57 | Partridge Family | ABC | 9.9/16 |
| 58 | College Football Post Game | ABC? | 8.9/16 |
| 59 | Calucci’s Dept. | CBS | 7.1/12 |
I believe the low-rated college football game (and the even lower-rated post game show) aired on ABC on Thursday, November 22nd starting at 6:30PM ET. The game pitted the University of Alabama against Louisiana State University.
Source:
“Family Returns to Top Rating.” Los Angeles Times. 3 Dec. 1973: D22
I recall really liking “Needles and Pins,” and was disappointed when it was cancelled. It is amazing to see how badly ABC’s Friday night shows were doing in the ratings this season.
CBS was such a ratings powerhouse during this era, which makes it so surprising to see that they also had the lowest-rated show of the season. And not only was it the lowest-rated, it was in that spot just about every week, if not every week, until it was cancelled. Plus, it was much lower than whatever the second lowest-rated show was each week. Well, they couldn’t win ’em all.
I guess adults watched Sanford and Son and kids watched The Brady Bunch so there weren’t many viewers left. I remember Calucci’s Dept being advertised but I never saw it. I dont know which issue but BROADCASTING magazine has final year numbers for the 1973-74 season and i think Calucci was the lowest rated show. Brady Bunch didn’t do too bad….they were like 54th out of 80 some shows. But ABC still cancels it.
It’s interesting how NBC’s Friday lineup tanked after “Sanford and Son” was over. A Top 10 show followed by several cellar dwellers…