Reality Shows Top Ratings

By Stephen M. Silverman

Monday August 10, 1998 12:00 AM EDT

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Reality continues to rule the TV airwaves, with CBS's cast of castaways and Regis Philbin's merry band of money-hungry quiz contestants monopolizing Mr. Nielsen's Top 10. While fresh episodes of "Survivor" and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" captured the top spots -- followed by "Big Brother" -- a rerun of "The Practice" made a highly respectable showing, too. (A rating point represents 1,008,000 households, or 1% of the nation's estimated 100.8 million TV homes.) The Top 10:

1. "Survivor," CBS, 17.4, 17.55 million homes

2. "Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Tuesday," ABC, 14.7, 14.83 million homes

3. "Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Sunday," ABC, 14.2, 14.29 million homes

4. "Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Thursday," ABC, 13.5, 13.61 million homes

5. "Big Brother - Wednesday," CBS, 11.3, 11.40 million homes

6. "20/20-Downtown," ABC, 9.4, 9.45 million homes

7. "The Practice," ABC, 9.0, 9.07 million homes

8. "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 8.3, 8.38 million homes

9. (tie) "60 Minutes," CBS, 8.2, 8.24 million homes

9. (tie) "Vanished: Object of Desire," ABC, 8.2, 8.24 million homes