ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997 TAG: 9702270011
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KEITH MARDER and BOB STRAUSS LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
An estimated 65 million people watched at least part of ``Schindler's List'' on Sunday night, more than twice the audience of the Academy Award-winning movie in its theatrical run.
The box-office hit had a North American gross of $96 million in theaters. Using that figure and counting in around 2 million schoolchildren who received free screenings, the North American viewership was estimated at 25 million when the film was released. The movie grossed $225 million worldwide, but estimating the number of people worldwide who watched the movie is problematic because movie prices vary so widely in different countries.
Viewership of the movie on NBC Sunday night was about half the audience of the Super Bowl, which drew 128.9 million viewers in January. By comparison, the average episode of top drama ``ER'' draws about 35 million viewers. Keep in mind that ``Schindler's List'' was programmed over three-and-a-half hours, and anyone who watched for even a few minutes is counted. ``ER'' is only on for one hour.
``Schindler's List'' received the highest rating of any movie on a network since ``Jurassic Park'' in May 1995. Nielsen ratings from the top 36 markets in the country were released by NBC, showing that the movie earned a 23.8 rating and a 34 share of viewers who watched at least part of the commercial-free movie about Oskar Schindler, a Nazi war profiteer who saved 1,100 Jews during World War II. ``Jurassic Park,'' also on NBC, earned a 25.3 rating and 37 share.
The movie also did well by comparison with other movies during February sweeps. It was the highest on NBC since the first part of ``The Two Mrs. Grenvilles'' on Feb. 8, 1987. It was the highest overall since CBS' ``Sarah, Plain and Tall'' in 1991.
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Liam Neeson (right) plays German industrialist Oskarby CNBSchindler, and Ben Kingsley is his Jewish plant manager in
``Schindler's List.''