ABC wins the May 1984 Sweeps!

OK, so we are 40 years behind! Still, it was reported 40 years ago Sunday in The New York Times that ABC, already excited about the upcoming 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, had won the May Nielsen ratings Sweeps period, besting CBS and NBC.

Among the highlights for ABC in May 1984: The series finale of Happy Days, miniseries The Last Days of Pompeii and The Mystic Warrior, and season finales of Hotel and Dynasty. Surprising me, another score noted in the article is The Dollmaker, a TV film with Penny Marshall, John Ritter, and Jane Fonda. I forgot all about this one, but Fonda earned an Emmy for her performance.

The Times noted the big difference was the movies and specials, as CBS got good numbers with its regular programs, like season finales of Dallas and Falcon Crest, but ABC's movies were much stronger. NBC was not even really mentioned. Numbers for the period: ABC 14.9%, CBS 13.5%, NBC 13.3%.