‘Truth,’ ‘Globes’ Shine in NBC’s Golden Win

President Clinton’s pre-inaugural entertainment on Sunday night was no match for the star power of Hollywood. NBC’s coverage of the Golden Globe Awards had an average audience of more than 19.8 million people, compared to 11.5 million for CBS’ telecast of the Clinton gala in Washington.

Data released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research showed that the Golden Globes telecast ranked No. 11 for the week with about 1.4 million more viewers than last year. It also beat a repeat of “The X-Files,� even as it was paying tribute to the Fox mystery as TV’s best drama series. And it put a dent in Fox’s cartoon “King of the Hill,� which saw its viewership tumble by 28% from the premiere episode a week earlier.

With the boost from the three-hour awards show, NBC handily won the week to continue as the No. 1 network in prime time, with “Seinfeld� and “ER� taking their usual spots atop the charts. That was good news for “The Naked Truth,� which NBC slotted between the two Thursday night stalwarts. The former ABC comedy, starring Tea Leoni, placed No. 3 in its first outing on its new network last week, albeit with household ratings about 17% lower than the other two shows.

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Network Averages

Here is the number of viewers that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season.

Last Week

NBC: 17.13

ABC: 13.97

CBS: 13.51

FOX: 9.92

UPN: 5.53

WB: 3.81

Season to Date

NBC: 15.49

ABC: 14.04

ABC: 14.01

FOX: 11.48

UPN: 4.55

WB: 3.68

Southland Viewing

Here are Nielsen’s Top 10 prime-time programs in the Los Angeles area during the same week. The rankings are based on the number of households watching.

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Program Station Households 1. Seinfeld KNBC 1,240,552 2. ER KNBC 1,205,955 3. The Naked Truth KNBC 909,409 4. NYPD Blue KABC 869,869 Golden Globe Awards KNBC 869,869 6. Friends KNBC 850,100 7. 60 Minutes KCBS 805,618 8. The X-Files KTTV 800,675 9. Frasier KNBC 771,021 The Single Guy KNBC 771,021

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