'Weakest Link' Strengthens

By Stephen M. Silverman

03/27/1998 at 12:00 AM EST

One week after the obit writers started to say goodbye to NBC's "Weakest Link," the British import did an about-face and picked up viewers. Monday's episode won its timeslot and had a 3% higher rating than the previous Monday. It averaged 8.9 million households, though CBS's "King of Queens" edged out its first half-hour So, "Weakest Link" isn't a weak link. The Top 10 ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research for April 30 to May 6, which, you may remember included the "Survivor II" finale:

1. "Survivor: The Australian Outback," CBS, 20.1, 20.6 million homes
2. "Survivor II: The Reunion," CBS, 16.0, 16.4 million homes
3. "ER," NBC, 14.9, 15.2 million homes
4. "Law and Order," NBC, 14.1, 14.4 million homes
5. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Sunday, ABC, 12.5, 12.7 million homes
6. "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 11.7, 11.9 million homes
7. (tie) "Frasier," NBC, 11.6, 11.9 million homes
7. (tie) "The West Wing," NBC, 11.6, 11.9 million homes
9. "The Practice," ABC, 11.5, 11.7 million homes
10. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Tuesday, ABC, 11.1, 11.3 million homes