'Weakest Link' Strong

By Stephen M. Silverman

04/08/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

"Weakest Link" proved to be a strong one for NBC's ratings, with the new show pulling in about 14.7 million viewers for its Monday night premiere. The numbers represent that network's best ratings for that timeslot since 1996, reports The New York Times. The British import also was a hit with children as well as with adults between the ages of 18 and 34 and those between 18 and 49. That means advertisers are happy, too. (The rating is the percentage of the nation's estimated 100.8 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 1,008,000 households.) As for the Top 10 for April 8-14:

1. "Survivor: The Australian Outback," CBS, 16.2, 16.5 million homes
2. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 14.8, 15.1 million homes
3. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Tuesday, ABC, 13.6, 13.9 million homes
4. "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 12.5, 12.7 million homes
5. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 12.3, 12.5 million homes
6. (tie) "Becker," CBS, 10.8, 11.1 million homes
6. (tie) "Law and Order," NBC, 10.8, 11.1 million homes
8. (tie) "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Sunday, ABC, 10.5, 10.8 million homes
8. (tie) "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Thursday, ABC, 10.5, 10.7 million homes
10. "Judging Amy," CBS, 10.1, 10.3 million homes