Strong CBS Fails to Edge NBC

NEW YORK — CBS overwhelmed its rivals in the A. C. Nielsen Co. ratings on Sunday night, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a bad start earlier in the week during the Republican National Convention.

CBS’ Sunday night lineup of “60 Minutes” and “Murder, She Wrote” tied for first place and the movie “Outrage” starring Robert Preston and Beau Bridges placed fifth, but NBC still won the week with an average rating of 8.3. CBS was second with 8.2 and ABC was third with 7.8. Ratings were depressed by four days of prime-time coverage of the Republican convention, which attracted an even smaller audience than the Democratic convention.