U.S.-Czech Match Gets Low Ratings

The United States’ 5-1 loss to Czechoslovakia in its World Cup opener Sunday was watched by fewer than 2% of the nation’s television viewers.

The match, which began at 8 a.m. PDT, got a 1.8 overnight rating and a 6 share, Turner Broadcasting Co. said. In contrast, Saturday’s game between Italy and Austria got a 74 share in Italy, the RAI network said.

A rating point is said by A. C.Nielsen Co. to represent 921,000 homes, or 1% of the 92.1 million U.S. households that have TV. The share is the percentage of television sets that are on at the time.

The World Cup games are on Turner Broadcasting’s TNT cable network in the United States.

The overnight ratings are based on survey’s of the largest U.S. television markets. The final national ratings will not be available until the end of the week.