CBC STANLEY CUP RATINGS UP, BUT NHL SEASON NUMBERS SHOW DROP

           In Canada, the CBC's ratings for the Stanley Cup
     Finals were up 10% from '96, with an average audience of two
     million for the four games in the Finals, compared with 1.8
     million in '96.  But for the four rounds of the Stanley Cup
     playoffs, the average was 1.356 million, down from last
     year's 1.48 million (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 6/13).
          FOR THE SEASON: CABLE WORLD's Alan Breznick writes that
     NHL ratings "slipped for the most part" during the regular
     season and playoffs in the U.S. and Canada.  ESPN2 and Fox
     each "suffered" at least a 10% ratings decline during the
     regular season, while ESPN "only matched" last year's 0.8
     Nielsen average for 27 games, after running 8% ahead halfway
     through the season.  In Canada, CBC's "Hockey Night in
     Canada" ratings "slipped" 10% this season to a four-year low
     of 5.4.  The ratings declines "puzzled some observers
     because they came amid other signs of hockey's rising
     popularity," such as the league breaking its own attendance
     record for the second straight season (CABLE WORLD, 6/9).