Miller To Return to ABC Sports

NEW YORK (AP) â€” That's the news: Dennis Miller is NOT out of there. <br><br>ABC Sports has exercised its options to keep Miller, the comedian brought in to spice up ``Monday Night Football,''

Thursday, January 25th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) â€” That's the news: Dennis Miller is NOT out of there.

ABC Sports has exercised its options to keep Miller, the comedian brought in to spice up ``Monday Night Football,'' and the rest of the program's on-air cast for next season.

Analyst Dan Fouts, sideline reporters Melissa Stark and Eric Dickerson, and veteran play-by-play announcer Al Michaels also are staying with ABC's NFL telecasts.

All but Michaels joined the show in 2000.

``As I've been saying all year, I am very happy with the job everyone on the team did,'' ABC Sports president Howard Katz said Thursday.

It isn't known if producer Don Ohlmeyer, hired before last season to revamp the show, will return.

The program averaged a 12.7 national rating, a drop of 7 percent from the previous record low (each point represents a little more than 1 million TV homes).

But the draw among men 18-34 jumped 7 percent â€” the show's first increase in that demographic in six years.

While 11 of the 17 Monday games were decided by a touchdown or less, the program did have to compete with the Sydney Olympics on two nights and a pushed-back fall TV schedule.

The low point came in Week 13, when a game between non-playoff teams Kansas City and New England generated a 9.9 rating â€” the second-lowest ever for the show. The only worse rating was for a telecast opposite Game 7 of the 1986 World Series.

The show's Nielsen ratings have decreased for six straight seasons.