XFL Ratings Still in Free-Fall

N E W  Y O R K, Feb. 26 -- At this rate, only a handful of people will betuning in to the XFL by the end of the season.

The preliminary TV ratings for the fledgling football leaguejointly owned by NBC and the World Wrestling Federation plummetedfurther for the fourth Saturday night telecast, losing another 24percent from the week before.

It's the sort of free-fall that might result in cancellation fora network sitcom or drama.

Some Free Commercial Time Offered

Saturday's 2.9 overnight rating for the New York/New JerseyHitmen's 13-0 victory over the Chicago Enforcers means only anaverage of 2.9 percent of U.S. television households in thecountry's 49 largest markets were watching at any given moment.

That follows overnight ratings of 10.3, 5.1 and 3.8,respectively, for the XFL's first three weeks on NBC.

Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is a color commentator on XFLbroadcasts.

The games also have been delivering increasingly disappointingviewership totals on the other broadcasters, UPN and TNN, after thecuriosity factor sparked an impressive debut on the first weekendof February.

The league already is offering some free commercial time toadvertisers who were promised their spots would reach more viewers.

NBC to Honor Two-Year Commitment

The overnight ratings measure about 65 percent of the country.Full national ratings will be released later in the week, and thenews probably will be even worse.

The national ratings for NBC's XFL shows have dropped from 9.5in Week 1 to 4.6 in Week 2 to 3.1 last week, when it was thelowest-ranked program of anything that aired in prime time on thefour major networks.

NBC has said it will honor its two-year commitment to theleague. The network and the WWF are splitting the estimated $100million in start-up costs for the first two seasons.

"This is just Week 4 of a 12-week commitment and of a two-yearcommitment," NBC Sports VP Kevin Sullivan said Sunday.

The season ends with a championship game April 21.