TV RATINGS : ‘Videos’ Payoff Lures ‘Em In

The prospect of seeing $100,000 awarded lured a huge audience to the season-ending installment of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” on Sunday. Viewers in more than 23.2 million homes tuned in to watch the one-hour broadcast on ABC, compared to 17.4 million for the week’s second most-watched show, a “Cheers” repeat. NBC, meanwhile, was back on top in the network race, edging ABC by two-tenths of a point. CBS, which had won last week, was third. NBC also won the battle of TV movies Sunday, as its latest “Perry Mason” offering finished No. 8 among the week’s 84 prime-time programs. The full list of ratings is on Page 10.

* Is a change of nights in store for Connie Chung? Or just a change in format? Her “Face to Face” special on CBS did respectably in its Monday slot, attracting an audience of about 11.7 million homes. But when a regular installment of “Saturday Night With Connie Chung” came up five days later, the audience dwindled to about 6.6 million homes.

Show Points Share 1.”Funniest Home Videos”(ABC) 25.2 40 2.”Cheers”(NBC) 18.9 31 3.”Roseanne”(ABC) 17.7 28 4.”The Cosby Show”(NBC) 17.4 31 5.”A Different World”(NBC) 17.1 29 * “Face to Face”(CBS) 12.7 22