WORLD CUP NOTES: TV RATINGS DOWN ON ABC, COVERAGE PANNED

          ABC's coverage yesterday afternoon of the USA-Germany
     match earned a 4.4/12 overnight rating (THE DAILY).  In St.
     Louis, Tom Wheatley calls ABC's coverage of the match
     "incompetent."  Wheatley: "Brent Musberger anchored the
     studio coverage at his melodramatic worst."  Noting
     Musberger's question, "Do we have a chance?," Wheatley
     wonders, "Why do U.S. broadcasters turn into jingoists when
     a U.S. national team is at play?" (POST-DISPATCH, 6/16).  
          NUMBERS: USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke shows that ABC's
     weekend overnight ratings are down from '94 and reports,
     "Soccer fever, as expected, has dwindled in the USA, with
     the World Cup being played in France."  ABC's Belgium-
     Holland opening match on Saturday earned a 2.4 overnight,
     down 49% from '94's 4.7 opener.  Sunday's Jamaica-Croatia
     overnight of a 2.6 was down 67% from '94's 7.8, a match that
     featured the U.S. team.  For more ratings, see (#32).