On the Air

THE RATINGS

THE GOLDEN BOWL

Touchdown! Friday night's Fiesta Bowl (1st) scored major ratings for ABC. Over 29 million pigskin fans watched Ohio State beat Miami in a fight for the NCAA title. It was the most-watched college football National Championship game ever, giving ABC its best Friday in 10 years. Meanwhile, amid repeats, folks sampled freshman fare: NBC's Boomtown (28th) squeaked by a repeat of The Practice (31st), and repeats of Without a Trace (11th) trounced second-run episodes of ER (30th) two weeks in a row. In reality news, 5.2 million viewers attended The WB's High School Reunion (72nd), and the show's ratings built in its second half hour, meaning fans will likely rejoin the party in week 2.

TOP 15 DEC. 30-JAN. 5

LAST VIEWERS* WEEK

1 29.1 FOOTBALL: FIESTA BOWL ABC, Friday, 8:17 p.m. -- 2 26.3 FOOTBALL: FALCONS VS. PACKERS ABC, Saturday, 8:08 p.m. -- 3 22.4 CSI (R) CBS, Thursday, 9 p.m. 1 4 18.0 CSI (R) CBS, Thursday, 8 p.m. 3 5 15.5 FRIENDS (R) NBC, Thursday, 8 p.m. 6 6 15.4 EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND (R) CBS, Monday, 9 p.m. 4 7 15.2 FOOTBALL: ORANGE BOWL ABC, Thursday, 8:13 p.m. -- 8 15.1 FOOTBALL: SUGAR BOWL ABC, Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. -- 9 15.0 LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT NBC, Sunday, 9 p.m. 18 15.0 THE SIMPSONS Fox, Sunday, 8:20 p.m. -- 11 14.7 WITHOUT A TRACE (R) CBS, Thursday, 10 p.m. 7 12 13.6 CSI: MIAMI (R) CBS, Monday, 10 p.m. 8 13 13.3 STILL STANDING (R) CBS, Monday, 9:31 p.m. 9 14 13.1 FOOTBALL: 49ERS VS. RAMS ABC, Monday, 9:07 p.m. -- 15 12.8 SCRUBS NBC, Thursday, 8:32 p.m. 19

TOP 15 DEC. 23-29

1 21.2 CSI (R) CBS, Thursday, 9 p.m. -- 2 17.9 FOOTBALL: STEELERS VS. BUCCANEERS ABC, Monday, 9:07 p.m. -- 3 17.0 CSI (R) CBS, Thursday, 8 p.m. -- 4 14.3 EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND (R) CBS, Monday, 9 p.m. 4 5 13.2 LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT (R) NBC, Friday, 10 p.m. 23 6 13.1 FRIENDS (R) NBC, Thursday, 8 p.m. 6 7 13.0 WITHOUT A TRACE (R) CBS, Thursday, 10:02 p.m. -- 8 12.1 CSI: MIAMI (R) CBS, Monday, 10 p.m. 3 9 11.5 MOVIE: THE SOUND OF MUSIC (R) ABC, Sunday, 7 p.m. -- 11.5 STILL STANDING (R) CBS, Monday, 9:31 p.m. 7 11 11.4 DATELINE NBC NBC, Friday, 8 p.m. -- 12 11.3 YES, DEAR (R) CBS, Monday, 8:30 p.m. 12 13 11.1 THE KING OF QUEENS (R) CBS, Monday, 8 p.m. 13 14 10.9 60 MINUTES CBS, Sunday, 7 p.m. 15 15 10.3 MOVIE: YOU'VE GOT MAIL (R) CBS, Sunday, 8:30 p.m. -- 10.3 MOVIE: DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (R) Fox, Sunday, 7:30 p.m. --