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IS NFL RATINGS DROP CAUSE FOR CONCERN? JETS-PATS 14.9/22

          ABC earned a 14.9/22 preliminary overnight rating for
     last night's Jets-Patriots "Monday Night Football" game.  If
     the rating holds, it would be the second-highest "MNF" game
     this season.  "MNF" was averaging a 13.3 going in to last
     night's game, down 10% from last year.  On Sunday, Fox drew
     a 10.3/25 for its regional NFL action, and a 14.8/31 for its
     late national doubleheader game.  Fox was averaging a 9.5/22
     for its NFL coverage, down 9% through six weeks last year. 
     CBS drew an 11.0/24 overnight for its regional NFL coverage
     on Sunday.  The net averaged an 8.6 going in to the weekend,
     which was flat compared with NBC's AFC coverage in '97 (THE
     DAILY).  ESPN earned a 9.2 cable rating for last Thursday's
     Packers-Lions, its highest NFL rating of the year.  The game
     was seen in an average of 6.923 million homes (ESPN).
          UNDER-RATED? Fatsis & Pope of the WALL STREET JOURNAL
     examine this season's drop in NFL ratings, as the numbers
     "are off as much as 11%" from last season, and the audience
     for ABC's "MNF" has "hit the lowest point in the show's 29-
     year history."  Some nets are "slashing prices for
     commercial time" on NFL broadcasts, and advertisers "are
     asking for free ad time to make up for smaller-than-expected
     audiences."  DeWitt Media President Gene DeWitt: "This is a
     big surprise."  While the nets increased ad rates by 15-20%
     this year, Fatsis & Pope add that they "will be hard-pressed
     to raise prices again next year" if ratings don't improve. 
     An exec "familiar" with the NFL TV deals: "The problem with
     the NFL is that you never catch up.  Once you lose in year
     one, you're dead."  But Western Int'l Media buyer William
     Croasdale said, "The whole industry knows that at least this
     year and into next year, football is going to be a loss
     leader for the four networks."  NFL Senior VP/Broadcasting
     Dennis Lewin: "All of our partners went into the deal with
     their eyes wide open.  They knew over the course of eight
     years you might have some peaks and you might have some
     valleys" (Fatsis & Pope, WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/20).  

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