Super Bowl No. 1: Nielsen

By Stephen M. Silverman

Friday May 29, 1998 12:00 AM EDT

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What caused cheers in Baltimore and jeers in New York -- could that be Super Bowl XXXV? -- should be cause for jubilation at CBS. According to the prime-time ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Jan. 22-28, the 34-7 trouncing in Tampa brought home the bacon (as in pigskin, get it?) for the network's post-game show and for "Survivor: The Australian Outback," which debuted right after all the football folderol. (The rating is the percentage of the nation's estimated 102.2 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 1,022,000 households.) The Top 10:

1. "Super Bowl XXXV: NY Giants vs. Baltimore Ravens," CBS, 40.4, 41.3 million homes
2. "Super Bowl XXXV Post Game," CBS, 28.8, 29.4 million homes
3. "Survivor: The Australian Outback." CBS, 24.5, 25.1 million homes
4. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Wednesday, ABC, 13.5, 13.8 million homes
5. "Law and Order," NBC, 12.9, 13.2 million homes
6. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Thursday," ABC, 12.7, 13.0 million homes
7. "The West Wing," NBC, 12.3, 12.5 million homes
8. "Friends," NBC, 12.1, 12.4 million homes
9. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Friday," ABC, 11.5, 11.8 million homes
10. "ER," NBC, 11.4, 11.7 million homes