XFL Introducing Changes As Viewers Head for Exits.

Scrambling to reverse the disastrous ratings slide of its XFL football broadcasts, NBC is tinkering with the league's rules and format of its broadcasts. The XFL has eliminated on-field player introductions, shortened the length of halftimes and played with the clock. It also has eliminated the "bump and run" rule, which should make for more TD passes, and added NFL Hall of Famer Dick Butkus to its broadcast team.

"We're switching our emphasis from technological improvements to developing player personalities," said Jeff Shapes, spokesman for the XFL. "We want viewers to become invested in the players and their teams. You're going to see more personal coverage and more pre-produced features on the players."

But NBC is not about to make the XFL into an outlandish spectacle.

"It's 100 percent football with a dollop of entertainment on the sidelines," said Cameron Blanchard, director of communications for NBC Sports.

The league, a joint partnership between General Electric Co.'s NBC and Vince K. McMahon's World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc., debuted Feb. 3 with 15 million viewers. Since then, ratings have fallen off a cliff, with only 3.9 million viewers tuning in for the Feb. 24 prime-time telecast.

Despite the massive viewer tune-out, industry analysts remain bullish.

"It's like any new show," said Jeffrey Logsdon, a media analyst in Gerard klauer Mattison & Co. Inc.'s L.A. office. "Both sides went in with a long-range plan. I think they're both surprised at how well the first week went - I think it exceeded both partners' expectations."

Even if it wanted to, NBC couldn't just drop XFL like an unpopular sitcom. As part of its 50-50 partnership, NBC is locked into a two-year, $100 million contract to broadcast the made-for-TV league during prime-time hours.

Neither NBC West Coast President Scott Sassa nor McMahon were available for comment about the programming dilemma, although Sassa addressed the issue in a rating sweeps conference call last week, reiterating the network's commitment to the league.

"We're building a business," said Sassa. "We're in this for the long haul."

"We went in knowing that there would have to be changes," Blanchard explained. "It's a work in progress - it's not as if launching a new league is easy."

For many, the XFL was supposed to be a lot like WWF wrestling, more entertainment than sport. But since its.inception, many viewers are finding that the sport, unlike its name, is not "extreme" enough.

"A lot of people, including myself, are surprised that it's really not the WWF of football," said Douglas Christopher, an analyst with L.A.-based Crowell, Weedon & Co.

But there is some WWF flavor. The network and the league are still trumpeting the purported feud between broadcaster (and governor) Jesse Ventura and Rusty Tillman, head coach for the New York/New Jersey Hitmen. The war of words is filled with the same bluster and threats as some of the WWF's staged grudge matches.

While Logsdon agreed that the XFL needs to improve its big-market teams and build star players to attract a larger fan base, he echoed the consensus that NBC had made a potentially savvy investment.

"The costs are relatively low compared to entertainment programming," he noted. "NBC may be losing some opportunity costs, but it's not losing on production costs. The XFL is an interesting experiment that's not over yet."

Unable (or unwilling) to find a slot in its Saturday and Sunday daytime sports programming, NBC put XFL into its Saturday prime time slot -- a slot that hasn't seen a hit since "The 'Golden Girls" in the mid-1980s. It doesn't have much to lose in opportunity costs.

"It's low risk, high reward for NBC. They might be surprised at how well it turns out," said Christopher, who cited the growing risk and hefty price tags associated with broadcasting traditional sports. "It's a great investment considering the playing field today. The level of spending is a drop in the bucket for NBC."

The Walt Disney Co., Christopher noted, will be paying over $1 billion a year for the rights to broadcast the NFL on ABC. Because of the XFL's partnership structure, NBC doesn't have to pay for broadcasting rights. Instead, it'll share in any revenue generation that might occur from its $50 million-a-year contract with the WWF.

If viewer numbers level out over the weeks leading up to the season finale and stay consistent next year, NBC might have found a Saturday night winner.

One real winner already is Vince McMahon.

"He's mainstream now," said Christopher. "He's gone beyond the cable channels."