RATINGS: DAILY VARIETY's Tom Bierbaum writes that Fox
"won the week [ending October 24] with the lowest World
Series numbers ever and improved by a mere 12% in adults 18-
49 over the same week last year, when Fox was competing
against, not being boosted by, the World Series" (DAILY
VARIETY, 10/28). For the week, Fox averaged 13.4 million
viewers and was No. 1 in the 18-49 demo with a 5.7/16. NBC
"earned its first in-season, fourth place ranking among
total viewers and households" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 10/28).
In DC, Lisa de Moraes notes that the "entirety of NBC's
gargantuan Thursday night lineup was in repeats." In
related news, last week's "MNF" Jets-Patriots game was the
No. 1 show among men in the 18-49 age group for the week,
beating Fox's World Series Games Three and Four (WASHINGTON
POST, 10/28)....USA Network said that among men 12-34, USA's
and TNT's October 19 combined coverage of WWF and WCW
attracted 3,273,000 viewers, while the World Series on Fox
had a four-game average of 3,295,000 in the same demo (USA).
NOTES: Nielsen has acquired a "large share" of the CA-
based Web tracking firm, NetRatings. The firms "will launch
a new Internet usage measurement service" (DAILY VARIETY,
10/28)...Former Bears and Northwestern footballer Mike
Adamle will be the lead sports anchor for NBC's affil in
Chicago beginning November 1 (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 10/27).
