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).
