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Soft ratings could hurt top rank; ABG, WB debuts glide; UPN's Chris slides
NETWORK TV
Although the new broadcast season is just two weeks old, another soft-ratings week for NBC has media buyers and financial analysts rumbling that the network's reign as the advertising cost-per-thousand leader could be in jeopardy.
Meanwhile, all the first-week plaudits for the new UPN sitcom Everybody Hates Chris were tempered a bit when the show took a significant ratings dip.
"The pricing gap between No. 1 NBC and No. 4 ABC was 20 percent in the last upfront," one analyst said. "It's possible that NBC's ratings erosion could move CBS ahead of NBC or even move ABC up to No. 2 in CPM, particularly if NBC cannot find a hit this season and if Lost and Desperate...