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Cowboys-Giants try for a second ratings record

By ED BARK
Third down and a makeable six yards to go. Could Oct. 23rd's Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants game become the first cable attraction ever to rank in the top 10 of all weekly programs?

It was close. But the Cowboys had the disadvantage of competing not only against themselves but Games 4 and 5 of the World Series. So ESPN's presentation of Monday Night Football came in 14th for the week (Oct. 23-29), or 13th if you factor out a No. 2-rated CBS Sunday NFL overrun.

Cowboys-Giants drew a grand total of 16.028 million viewers, making it the most-watched cable program ever. The record had been held for nearly 13 years by a contentious November 1993 Al Gore-Ross Perot NAFTA debate on CNN's Larry King Live.

In the overall TV universe, though, Sunday night's Cowboys-Panthers game on NBC beat cable's 'Pokes with 17.331 million viewers (No. 7 for the week). ESPN's Cowboys-Giants finished just below Game 4 of the World Series, which had 16.113 million viewers on Fox. The week's most-watched program, ABC's Desperate Housewives, drew 21.238 million viewers.