Oscars Rated After All

By Stephen M. Silverman

04/21/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

ABC got the gold last week, with its Sunday night Oscar telecast topping Mr. Nielsen's latest list, despite this year's edition reportedly being the lowest rated Academy Awards show ever. But the network also enjoyed improved ratings for "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," which performed well above its own average. "Survivor: The Australian Outback," which last week featured highlights of the season thus far, will get back to the business of booting people off its location starting this Thursday, so expect better ratings for that CBS reality series. (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 for March 19-25:

1. "Academy Awards," ABC, 26.2, 26.8 million homes
2. "Oscar Countdown 2001," ABC, 18.6, 19.0 million homes
3. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Tuesday, ABC, 14.5, 14.8 million homes
4. "Survivor: The Australian Outback," CBS, 14.0, 14.3 million homes
5. "Law and Order," NBC, 13.0, 13.3 million homes
6. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Thursday, ABC, 12.9, 13.2 million homes
7. "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 12.5, 12.8 million homes
8. "Barbara Walters Special," ABC, 12.1, 12.4 million homes
9. "Friends," NBC, 12.0, 12.3 million homes
10. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Friday, ABC, 11.0, 11.3 million homes