Team officials are encouraged about recent Nielsen television ratings that show Ravens games were consistently one of the top 10 overall programs during the past three months and that seven of their games were among the top 10 regular-season sports programs watched in the Baltimore area in 1998.

Although Nielsen ratings showed the Ravens were third from last in the ratings of the 30 teams that play in the NFL, Lisa Bercu, Ravens director of broadcasting, said that Baltimore does not have a large market of TV watchers, but a significant number of those who turned on their sets in the 12 previous weeks were watching Ravens games.

"We are pleasantly surprised, but put it this way: We shouldn't be surprised because we should do well on Sundays," Bercu said. "We're never satisfied, and that's not a negative attitude, but an attitude in the organization to do better. This is our third year here, and we expected our numbers to increase as we become more ingrained in the fabric of the community.

"People are becoming more familiar with our product, and there is a definite excitement, especially in an area that has been 13 years without football. I've seen football-frenzied markets before, and I believe we can accomplish that in Baltimore."

An indication of Baltimoreans not watching television is the "households using television" index, which is slightly down from a year ago. But Ravens ratings have improved from 13.2 a year ago to 14.2, and the first four Ravens games of the season, against Pittsburgh, the New York Jets, Jacksonville and Cincinnati, were in the top 10 programs watched.

Even after the Ravens were 2-6 at midseason, games against Oakland, San Diego, Cincinnati and Indianapolis were still in the top 10 in overall programming, outdrawing such shows as "Friends," "60 Minutes," "Touched by an Angel," "NYPD Blue," "ER" and "Law & Order."

During the Ravens' 12 previous broadcasts before Sunday's game against the Oilers, the competition in the same time slot wasn't even close, including such opposing NFL games as Tampa Bay vs. Green Bay on Sept. 13 and Washington vs. Minnesota on Oct. 18. Except for national news in the evening, the competition usually drew 2.2 to 2.5 ratings.

"It would be disappointing to know that we were on at 1 p.m drawing a 14 and 'Wide World of Sports' or the Washington Capitals were on at the same time drawing a 16, but that's not happening," Bercu said. "We've pretty much blown away the competition."

Of the top 10 regular-season games among all sports shown in Baltimore in 1998, the Ravens' games against Indianapolis (18.1), San Diego (16.0), Oakland (15.3) and both games against Cincinnati (17.1, 16.8) were the top five, with the Colts game No. 1, drawing an 18.1 on Nov. 29 and a 22.5 rating during the peak hours of 3: 45 p.m. through 4 p.m.

The Ravens had seven games in the top 10. In contrast, the Orioles, playing mostly in prime time, had the sixth-highest with a 14.9 rating on July 24 against Seattle. In the special events category, the Super Bowl drew a 40.5 rating in Baltimore, and the AFC championship game was at 19.1 last year, and baseball's All-Star Game was at 17.2. The Preakness drew a 16.5 rating, and the NCAA men's basketball championship was at 15.7.

"When you analyze it, 13 years is equal to a full generation that grew up out of adolescence and into adulthood without a team to root for," said David Modell, the team's executive vice president of communications. "What we've had to do is try to change their pattern of doing other things, and there is still a younger generation where we have to become an intuitive part of their lives. This season, the weather has been outrageously warm. But in three years, it has been gratifying to see more people interested in choosing to watch Ravens football in person as well as on television."

But the Ravens want to improve. Despite selling out seven of eight homes games with 1,200 left for the Dec. 27 season finale, the Ravens have been hurt by unseasonably warm weather, which has kept people outside instead of inside watching television.

The Ravens also have started eight games at 1: 01 p.m., when viewing levels are low compared with 4 p.m., when outside activity slows. But team officials admit that the bottom line is winning. The Ravens have yet to have a winning season in their three years in Baltimore.

Ratings review

Nielsen's highest-rated regular-season sports ratings for Baltimore in 1998:

Event .. .. .. .. .. .. Date .. .. .. Rating

Colts at Ravens ... ... 11/29 ... ... 18.1

Ravens at Bengals .. .. 11/22 ... ... 17.1

Bengals at Ravens .. .. 9/27 .. .. .. 16.8

Ravens at Chargers .... 11/15 ... ... 16.0

Raiders at Ravens .. .. 11/8 .. .. .. 15.3

Mariners at Orioles ... 7/24 .. .. .. 14.9

Ravens at Jaguars .. .. 9/20 .. .. .. 14.8

Devil Rays at O's .. .. 8/20 .. .. .. 14.6

Tigers at Orioles .. .. 4/3 .. .. ... 14.5

Steelers at Ravens .... 9/6 .. .. ... 14.0

Pub Date: 12/11/98