FOOTBALL RATINGS ON THE RISE AS OTHER SPORTS SIT AND WATCH

     The canceled baseball season and the continuing hockey
lockout have turned into a big TV gain for football.  Ratings for
NFL games on ABC and NBC are up from a year ago; Fox's broadcasts
are performing "above expectations;" and TNT has had its best
ratings ever for NFL telecasts.  College football ratings are
also up significantly for ABC and ESPN.  NBC has also reported
that its demographic rting for men are up across the board from
last year with a 21% increase in Men 18-24, a 12% increase in Men
18-34, a 19% increase in Men 18-49 and a 20% increase in Men 25-
54 (Wayne Walley, ELECTRONIC MEDIA, 10/31 issue).  This past
weekend, Fox "had the tight, competitive NFL games," and topped
NBC in the ratings -- 15.4 to 13.8.  Fox's pre-game show also
came out on top, 5.9 to 4.4 (Rudy Martzke, USA TODAY, 11/1).