Viewers Choose Smart's TV Movie

Presented with a choice between stories about a hero prisoner of war or a young victim of a bizarre kidnapping, American television viewers narrowly went for the kidnap victim.

A made-for-TV movie on CBS about Elizabeth Smart was seen by an estimated 15.7 million viewers on Sunday, Nielsen Media Research said in a preliminary estimate Monday.

"The Elizabeth Smart Story" competed against a similar TV movie about Jessica Lynch on NBC, which had 14.9 million viewers, Nielsen said.

Smart's ratings advantage is expected to hold when final Nielsen ratings are released on Tuesday.

In a ratings "sweeps" month, the two networks chose to go after each other with similar projects. The Smart movie aired about a half-hour later than Lynch's because of a late football game.

NBC hardly considered it a defeat, however. "Saving Jessica Lynch" did slightly better among viewers aged 18 to 49, and was NBC's best-rated TV movie among this prized demographic since "Growing Up Brady" in May 2000.

Actually, more people on Sunday watched a real story involving Lynch than watched the dramatized account. CBS' "60 Minutes," which carried a Mike Wallace story about a hidden hero in the battle surrounding Lynch, was seen by 17.9 million people.