Dukakis Interview Tops Ratings

A 90-minute interview with Democratic presidential candidate Michael S. Dukakis on ABC’s “Nightline” Tuesday won the A. C. Nielsen Co. ratings by a substantial margin.

“Nightline” received a rating of 9.2 and a 31% share of the audience for the 90 minutes. That means it was watched in about 8 million homes. NBC’s “Tonight Show” and the first half-hour of “Late Night With David Letterman” received a rating of 4.8 and a 16% share. The CBS show “Nightheat” and the first half hour of “The CBS Late Show” got a 4.6 rating and a 15% share.