Who wants to be an Olympian tops ratings

By Azad September 20, 2000 9:30 AM

Ever wonder what shows or events get to be the most top-rated for viewers on television at times? Looks like the Olympic events are making it at the top, even pushing Regis Philbin to lower ranks than usual, well, besides number 1. Here are the Prime-time ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Sept. 11-17. Top 20 listings include the week's ranking, with rating for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses.

An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation. The rating is the percentage of the nation's estimated 100.8 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 1,008,000 households.

1. (X) "Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony," NBC, 16.2, 16.58 million homes.

2. (2) "Who Wants to be a Millionaire-Tuesday," ABC, 14.9, 15.20 million homes.

3. (X) "Summer Olympics Sunday Prime 1," NBC, 14.6, 14.94 million homes.

4. (X) "Summer Olympics Saturday Prime 1," NBC, 13.1, 13.41 million homes.

5. (3) "Who Wants to be a Millionaire-Thursday," ABC, 12.7, 12.97 million homes.

6. (5) "NFL Monday Night Football: New England Patriots at New York Jets," ABC, 12.2, 12.46 million homes.

7. (4) "Who Wants to be a Millionaire-Sunday," ABC, 11.4, 11.62 million homes.

8. (10) "NFL Monday Showcase," ABC, 10.0, 10.17 million homes.

9. (13) "Law and Order," NBC, 9.6, 9.85 million homes.

10. (29) "The West Wing," NBC, 8.8, 8.99 million homes.

11. (50) "Law and Order-Monday," NBC, 8.6, 8.82 million homes.

12. (16) "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 8.4, 8.56 million homes.