TV & VIDEO - Feb. 5, 1987

NBC is claiming that a commercial last Thursday announcing the winner of the Publisher’s Clearinghouse sweepstakes resulted in a lopsided ratings win for the “CBS Evening News with Dan Rather” in the normally neck-and-neck race with the “NBC Nightly News With Tom Brokaw.” Analysts at both networks were scratching their heads to explain the CBS program’s unusual four-point lead Thursday until Gerald Jaffe, NBC’s vice president for research projects, came up with the sweepstakes theory. CBS seemed to concede that the commercial boosted its Thursday ratings, but took full credit for winning the week ending Jan. 30.