TV RATINGS : Series No Competition to NBC

The World Series got its lowest ratings ever and thereby deprived ABC of the opportunity to unseat NBC as the nation’s favorite network, figures from the A. C. Nielsen Co. showed Tuesday. Perhaps because of the earthquake delay and the fact that they were so one-sided, the four games of the 1989 World Series averaged a 16.4 rating (about 15.1 million homes). That was 29% below the five-game 1988 series between the Oakland A’s and the Los Angeles Dodgers--and that had been the lowest-rated series in four years. So NBC, with five of the 10 most-watched programs, won the weekly network sweepstakes. The full list of ratings is on F12.

* ABC’s woes extended to Sunday with the telecast of a new movie about Richard Nixon’s “Final Days” in office. The 3-hour drama attracted only 17% of the available viewers, trailing a Donna Mills movie on CBS, “The Lady Forgets,” and a Jackee vehicle on NBC, “Double Your Pleasure.” Also outdrawing it at 9 p.m. was Fox’s “Married . . . With Children.”

Show Points Share 1.”Roseanne”(ABC) 24.9 37 2.”The Cosby Show”(NBC) 24.5 41 3.”Cheers”(NBC) 24.1 39 4.”60 Minutes”(CBS) 23.4 37 5.”A Different World”(NBC) 23.1 38 *”The Final Days”(ABC) 10.2 17