WONDERFUL LIFE BEATS NARNIA ON TV

The Chronicles of Narnia film franchise not only experienced light interest among U.S. moviegoers over the weekend (see separate item), but the earlier movie episode, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, barely produced a blip in the ratings Saturday night. Airing on ABC on a typically low-rated Saturday night, Narnia attracted just 3.77 million viewers and was beaten out by NBC’s annual telecast of the Jimmy Stewart Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life, which drew 4.94 million viewers. Both movies were out-rated by Fox’s Cops, with 4.77 million viewers and America’s Most Wanted with 5.34 million. Viewers returned to the their television sets on Sunday, however, with 23 million watching NBC’s Sunday Night Football coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles-Dallas Cowboys game, tying a record. Earlier in the evening an NFL overrun on CBS at 7:00 p.m. recorded 24.18 million viewers.