TV RATINGS

The nation’s interest in the Major League Baseball playoffs rendered some of last week’s ratings contests moot, since many Nielsens-powerful NBC shows were pre-empted for the baseball coverage. This didn’t stop “The Cosby Show” from finishing first, but “A Different World,” “Cheers” and “Golden Girls” were all warming the bench. As a result, three ABC shows airing opposite the baseball playoff games (the top-rated of which ranked 9th) managed base hits into the Top 5. The good finishes for the ABC (and CBS) shows didn’t prevent NBC from finishing first on the weekly averages, however: NBC, 16.1 rating/27 share; CBS, 15.1/25; ABC, 13.4/22. Evening news ratings: CBS 11.4, NBC 9.5, ABC 9.2. (One Nielsen point equals 886,000 homes; share refers to the percentage of households watching a particular program.) The complete Nielsens appear on Page 9.

* Can the picaresques of South Fork continue drawing millions of viewers? Opposite a baseball game, the veteran prime-time soap finished sixth last week, up from 24th the week before. The game ranked 32nd. But the question for this week is whether aging J.R. & Co. will hold their new spot now and for the rest of the season.

SHOW POINTS SHARE WEEK 1. The Cosby Show 28.2 45 10/11 (NBC) 29.8 49 10/4 2. Murder, She Wrote 23.3 36 10/11 (CBS) 22.8 34 10/4 3. Growing Pains 23.1 37 10/11 (ABC) 26.5 41 10/4 4. Who’s The Boss? 21.9 36 10/11 (ABC) 24.0 39 10/4 5. Moonlighting 21.8 34 10/11 (ABC) 25.9 40 10/4 * Dallas 20.2 35 10/11 (CBS) 17.0 30 10/4