TV: Basketball vs. Money Shows

By Stephen M. Silverman

09/07/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

CBS's "Survivor" and ABC's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" made headlines last week, but NBC's coverage of the NBA Finals between the L.A. Lakers and the Indiana Pacers gave the network the weekly ratings' crown. (A rating point represents 1,008,000 households, or 1% of the nation's estimated 99.4 million TV homes.) Last week's Top 10 TV in the Nielsen ratings:

1. "Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Sunday," ABC, 16.3, 16.45 million homes.

2. "Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Tuesday," ABC, 15.8, 15.96 million homes.

3. "Survivor," CBS, 11.7, 11.77 million homes.

4. "48 Hours - Monday," CBS, 11.2, 11.31 million homes.

5. "NBA Finals: Game 3: L.A. Lakers at Indiana," NBC, 10.7, 10.84 million homes.

6. "Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Wednesday," ABC, 10.6, 10.70 million homes.

7. "NBA Finals: Game 1: Indiana at L.A. Lakers," NBC, 10.5, 10.56 million homes.

8. "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 10.3, 10.37 million homes.

9. "60 Minutes," CBS, 10.1, 10.13 million homes.

10. "NBA Finals: Game 2: Indiana at L.A. Lakers," NBC, 9.9, 10.02 million homes.