Friday. April 10. 1987 The Times-PicayuneFj* *t-9 I rr» TELEVISION Fox ratings-math . The Fox Broadcasting Compa ny’s first prime-time ratings re- - port was either a major success or a minor disappointment, de- ■» pending on whose abacus you be lieve. According to overnight Nielsen Ratings in the top 13 markets, :FBC averaged a 4.7 rating and a • 7 percent share of the audience between 6 and 9 p.m. Sunday ‘ with its lineup of “Married with Children” and “The Tracey Ullman Show.” In aphone interview before the premiere, FBC programmer Garth Ancier said he was shoot ing for an average rating of 6 — about 30 percent more than the figure he got Sunday. But there are extenuating cir- cumstances. In an unusual pro- gramming strategy, the two half- hour comedy premieres were re- peated twice back to back, so- that the same two shows aired. three times in a row: Fox the- orized that this set-up\ would ” allow viewers to watch what they usually watch on Sunday nights On the air and sample the Fox lineup at their convenience. It also eliminated the possibil ity of a viewer sticking with FBC throughout the evening. So, instead of averaging its ratings for the three hours, FBC com bined the audience totals for each hour. Although its average is low, Fox figures, its three-hour cumu lative ratings are great: 15.3 with a 24 share for “Married — with Children” and 13 with a 20 share for “Tracey Ullman.” If third-place network ABC used this kind of math, its prime time ratings could knock a Super Bowl out of the Top 20. But then again, ABC generally waits more than an hour before putting its new shows in reruns. has their execs feeling ‘ecstatic’ So who knows? “The Fox people are ecstatic, and we’re thrilled,” says general manager Madelyn Bonnot of local FBC affiliate WNOL. Bonnot says that Channel 38 chose not to commission a “coin cidental,” a special one-night local ratings survey. But accord ing to a reliable source, the Arbi- tron Ratings Company did conduct a coincidental in New Orleans Sunday with less than spectacular results for Fox. Between 6 and 9 p.m., accord ing to the survey, W WL had a 15 rating and a 31 share, followed by WDSU with a 10/21, WVUE with a 9/19 and Channel 38’s Fox lineup with a 3/6. That put FBC tied for fourth place with Home Box Office and ahead of fellow independent WGNO, which had a 2/4. That 3 rating is below the na tional average and only about one-third of WNOL’s projected average rating of 9. A more accurate picture of the effectiveness of Fox’s reported $6.8 million promotional cam paign will be forthcoming this weekend. In addition to the sec ond week’s episodes of “Married” and “Tracey,” FBC will introduce its new action-adventure series “21 Jump Street.” Produced by Stephen Cannell (“Riptide,” “A- Team”), it stars Frederick For rest as the captain of an undercover police unit that infil trates circles of high school crim inals. “Jump Street” bows at 6 p.m. Sunday on Channel 38, followed by “Married” at 8 p.m. and “Tra cey” at 8:30. ■ Airwaves: Responding to com plaints both from viewers and advertisers, WNOL will reinstate all-night movies on Friday and Saturday nights beginning this weekends “We found out a way to do it without costing the com pany a lot of money,” says a spokeswoman, who said that a third night of all-nighters may be added on Thursdays sometime soon. Arbitron has finally released its local Top 25 for February. From the top: “The Cosby Show,” “Family Ties,” “The Grammy Awards,” “-Wheel of Fortune,” WWL’s 6 o’clock news, “Night Court,” “60 Minutes,” “Cheers,” “Knots Landing” and “The Miss USA Pageant.” ... New Orleans-based television producer Richard Lazes, who co executive produced both the “Fats Domino & Friends” and “Sass & Brass” music specials for Cinemax, is putting together an other concert special that he hopes to sell to HBO or Show time. “A Family Affair” would feature artists and their families performing together, featuring Julian Lennon, Kenny Loggins, Natalie Cole, Wynonna and Naomi Judd, the Everly Brothers and Frankie Avalon. Lazes says he hopes to film the show in New Orleans sometime this summer. . “The Anderson Files” returns to local TV in May in a new form. Newsman Richard Ander son has taken his WYES inter view series with him to 5 WVlJE and revised it into a “Barbara Walters-style format,” according to producer and Channel 8 spokesman Greg Buisson t -The first show, scheduled fo/ ^7' p^- May 25, will feature interviews with local restaurateur Af Cppe- land at his Metairie hoifie' Tmd Edwin Edwards at the goyemqr’s mansion in Baton Rouge- hiifd "on his ranch in Texas i - .1 “The Breakfast Edition”<hak a special celebrity cooking series the next three weeks; ChefQE^iul Prudhomme gives coo1ting3j{ii$fto Pete Fountain at Wednesday on Chahne^t with A1 Hirt and Mickey Ba^p^Iegay scheduled the followiqg^Two Wednesdays. • — WWL is bringing in-a eduplfe? of CBS soap opera staffed French Quarter FestivaL J ?Marga- ret Reed and Michael SwaR&jriio play Shannon O’Hiar&rraiiid Duncan McKechnie on . “A&ithe World Turns,” will join :a 'fg$jfral parade through the Qmu&r jgbll a.m. today before headingjbggkito Los Angeles this afternoon. _ second