Pigskin Chauvinists

Is pro football, like big-league baseball, in danger of overexposing itself to death on television? The answer so far this season seems to be no. Preliminary ratings survey indicate that ABC's gamble with weeknight pro football is paying off. An estimated one-third of the nation's TV households are tuning in to the games. That represents a remarkable 50% audience increase for ABC on Monday evening, a disaster area for the network in seasons past.

Even the women seem to be reconciled to a third straight day of televised football. A survey determined that 75% of the ladies "made favorable comment or made no objections." ABC claims that viewer letters have "virtually all been in favor" (though "a substantial number have objected" to the prolixity of Press-Box Pundit Howard Cosell). A piddling 4% of the sample reported domestic disagreement over whether to watch the game. Anxious to exploit even that minor discord, NBC has fought back by programming specials with TV's No. 1 draw, Bob Hope, and with "female-oriented" movies (this week Lady L, a Romain Gary romance starring Paul Newman and Sophia Loren). If nothing else, NBC--or CBS--can hope to capture the second set in the 34% of U.S. TV households so equipped.

In Boston, the Sack moviehouse chain is also attempting to cash in on feminine revolt against the male chauvinist pigskin fan with a special cut-rate Monday-night admission price ($1.99 v. $3). No box-office figures are in yet on that ploy, and the long-term impact of prime-time football on show business--and on American home life--is also still undetermined. ABC's only beef so far is that the audience figures, encouraging as they are, do not include an estimated 250,000 additional males catching the Monday games at the corner pub.

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