FUELED BY GAME SEVEN, SERIES AVOIDS ALL-TIME LOW RATING

          NBC's coverage of Game Seven of the World Series earned
     a final rating of a 24.5/39, bringing the final cumulative
     Series rating to a 16.7, just ahead of the World Series all-
     time low rating of 16.4 in '89 (Barry Jackson, MIAMI HERALD,
     10/29).  The World Series led NBC to its largest weekly win
     in primetime since the second week of the Atlanta Olympics
     in '96.  NBC Sports programs placed as the top six rated
     shows in primetime for the week ending October 26 (NBC). 
     Game Seven was the highest-rated sporting event on TV since
     the 43.3 for January's Super Bowl (Lisa de Moraes, HOLLYWOOD
     REPORTER, 10/29). In N.Y. Richard Huff writes that while the
     "ratings weren't very good at all compared to past Series,
     the Nielsen numbers were very good compared to NBC's usual
     series results," except for its top-rated Thursday night
     lineup (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/29).  Also in N.Y., Richard
     Sandomir adds that Marlins-Indians ratings "continued" the
     Fall Classic's TV "slide," finishing down 3.5% from last
     year, 14.3% from '95 and 32% from '91 (N.Y. TIMES, 10/29).  
          OTHER RATINGS: ABC's "MNF" earned a 16.8/32 for
     Packers-Patriots and Bears-Dolphins, its second-highest
     "MNF" rating for the season (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/29).
     ..."Powered by pro football," TNT was the most-watched cable
     network in primetime during October with an average of 1.627
     million homes per show during the month.  TNT's Saints-Bears
     game on October 5 was the most-watched primetime cable
     program during the month, followed by its Ravens-Steelers on
     October 12 (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/29)....In Denver, up against
     the Broncos-Bills game, Sunday's MLS Cup '97 between the
     Rapids and D.C. United earned a 3.5/6 preliminary overnight
     on KMGH in Denver.  The telecast was seen in roughly 42,000
     households in the Denver area and by about 100,000 viewers
     (Rapids)....Raycom Sports' weekly syndicated show "More Than
     A Game" earned a 2.3 rating for the week ending October 20,
     its highest to date and a 64% increase over the previous
     week's 1.4 rating (Raycom Sports).