TV RATINGS -- TOPS OF THE NON-RERUNS : ABC Hits Homer With All-Star Game

In TV, rerun season is also baseball season--and despite the less-than-heartstopping 2-1 victory of the American League, last week’s most popular viewing was ABC’s All-Star Baseball Game, which netted a rating of 20.5 and 36% of the viewing audience July 11, according to ratings released Tuesday by the A. C. Nielsen Co. Gerald Jaffe, vice president of research over at competitor NBC, called it the best All-Star Game rating since 1985. The All-Star pregame show also found a healthy audience, coming in at 11th place with a 14.6 rating.

* And America apparently prefers sports to politics: CBS’ preview of the Democratic National Convention attracted a mere 4.4 rating.

Show Points Share 1. 1988 All-Star Baseball Game 20.5 36 (ABC) 8. “60 Minutes” 15.4 33 (CBS) 11. All-Star Pregame Show 14.6 29 (ABC) 15. “Out of Time” 13.8 25 (NBC Sunday Night Movie) 16. “20/20” 13.0 26 (ABC) * “Democratic Convention Preview” 4.4 9 (CBS News)