TV Ratings : CBS’ Series Coverage Doesn’t Win Any Pennants

CBS, which already had lost tens of millions of dollars on its four-year Major League Baseball contract, endured one final indignity Tuesday with news from the A.C. Nielsen Co. that its World Series coverage last week drew the second lowest ratings ever for the Fall Classic.

The six-game series, in which the Toronto Blue Jays successfully defended their title against the Philadelphia Phillies, averaged a 17.3 rating, beating only the 16.4 for the earthquake-interrupted World Series of 1989. The final game on Saturday night drew the biggest crowd--about 17.9 million homes. CBS still won the ratings for the week, however.

There was more bad news for CBS on Friday, where “Picket Fences,” despite winning three Emmy Awards last month, attracted only 18% of the available audience for its season premiere and ranked 60th among the week’s 86 network programs. And the revamped “Bob,” starring Bob Newhart, fared even worse, finishing at No. 74.

Meanwhile, ABC’s “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” for the first time beat NBC’s “seaQuest DSV” on Sunday at 8 p.m., although both were well behind CBS’ “Murder, She Wrote.”

Southland Ratings

Here are A.C. Nielsen’s Top 10 prime-time programs in the Los Angeles area during the same week. Each rating point equals 50,064 households.

Sta- Rat- Program tion ing 1. Roseanne KABC 21.0 2. The Simpsons KTTV 20.2 3. 60 Minutes KCBS 17.7 4. NYPD Blue KABC 17.2 5. Home Improvement KABC 16.9 6. Coach KABC 16.8 7. Beverly Hills, 90210 KTTV 16.8 8. Seinfeld KNBC 16.6 9. The Sinbad Show KTTV 16.0 10. Married...With Children KTTV 15.7

Weekly Averages CBS: 15.2 ABC: 12.3 NBC: 11.6 FOX: 6.9

Season to Date CBS: 13.8 ABC: 12.3 NBC: 11.6 FOX: 6.9