XFL ratings still in free-fall

Howard Fendrich

Monday, Feb. 26, 2001 | 12:55 p.m.

NEW YORK -- At this rate, only a handful of people will be tuning in to the XFL by the end of the season.

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

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

Saturday's 2.9 overnight rating for the Chicago Enforcers' 13-0 victory over the New York/New Jersey Hitmen means only an average of 2.9 percent of U.S. television households in the country'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.

The games also have been delivering increasingly disappointing viewership totals on the other broadcasters, UPN and TNN, after the curiosity factor sparked an impressive debut on the first weekend of February.

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

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

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

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

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

The season ends with a championship game April 21.