On thursday, Feb. 6, CBS broadcast a two-hour Olympics preview, and the show's disastrous ratings-it ranked 78th for the week-seemed to foretell disappointing numbers for the Games themselves. But as it turns out, viewers were just waiting for the torch to be lit: The first Sunday of prime-time Olympics coverage drew 38 million viewers, easily surpassing the rating CBS had promised to advertisers and outpacing ABC's initial telecast of the 1988 Calgary Winter Games. The weekend also saw impressive ratings for Magic Johnson's appearance in the NBA All-Star Game, which drew 54 percent more viewers than last year's contest. In fact, only one man could stand in the way of televised sports last weekend: Arnold Schwarzenegger. NBC's TV premiere of the 1990 comedy Kindergarten Cop drew more viewers than any theatrical movie in three years. VIEWERS* TOP TEN LAST WEEK
1 38.5 Movie: Kindergarten Cop - NBC, Sunday, 8:30 p.m. 2 38.1 Winter Olympics - CBS, Sunday, 8 p.m . 3 37.1 Roseanne - ABC, Tuesday, 9 p.m. 4 36.3 60 Minutes 1 CBS, Sunday, 7 p.m. 5 30.9 Home Improvement - ABC, Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. 6 30.7 The Cosby Show 12 NBC, Thursday, 8:30 p.m. 7 30.1 Coach - ABC, Tuesday, 9:30 p.m. 8 29.7 Cheers 5 NBC, Thursday, 9 p.m. 9 28.3 Unsolved Mysteries 5 NBC, Wednesday, 8 p.m. 10 27.6 Murphy Brown 19 CBS, Monday, 9 p.m.
( BOTTOM FIVE
82 9.6 True Colors 71 Fox, Sunday, 7 p.m. 83 9.5 Cops: U.S. Marshals - Fox, Friday, 9 p.m. 84 7.0 Hidden Video - Fox, Friday, 9:30 p.m. 85 6.7 Get A Life 82 Fox, Sunday, 10 p.m. 86 4.7 The Sunday Comics - Fox, Sunday, 10:30 p.m. *In millions week of Feb. 3-9
