Date: 16th October 2000

NBC Is A Must-See Again


NBC, which had been struggling to compete against its rivals with entertainment programming, got a big boost Thursday night as all-new episodes of its Must-See-TV lineup produced an average 18.7 rating and a 27 share, more than double last week's figures.

The network's decision to move Frasier to Tuesday night appeared to have little effect on the overall ratings, as Will and Grace, which took over the 9:00 p.m. half-hour, nearly equaled Frasier's audience, brought the median age of the viewers down from 41 to 36, and beat ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire as well.

In a statement on Friday, NBC boasted that he had "met its goal of delivering a younger audience for advertisers." The network won every time period for the night, producing its best numbers in the 10:00 p.m. hour with E.R., which garnered a 20.6/31.

Source: Studio Briefing