With the anticipated defensive struggle materializing early, Sunday's Super Bowl saddled CBS with the lowest rating in 11 years and lowest share ever.

The Ravens' 34-7 victory over the Giants drew a 40.3 rating and a 60 share. The rating (percentage of televisions tuned in) was the second-lowest in 30 years -- behind 1990's 39.0 for the 49ers vs. Broncos, also on CBS -- while the share (percentage of in-use TVs tuned in) fell below the previous low of 61 hit in 1992 by CBS and 1999 by Fox.

Sunday's rating was 7 percent lower than last year's 43.3 on ABC but a hair higher than the 40.2 Fox got in 1999.

On top of the participants' playing styles, CBS had its numbers impacted by a lopsided game decided in the third quarter. A national rating represents an average over a whole broadcast, and Sunday's plummeted in the final hour of a well-received telecast.

"Other than having some control over the score," CBS Sports president Sean McManus told The Associated Press, "I don't think I would have done anything differently."

Incidentally, the diminished returns will have no impact on the financial returns: CBS made no minimum ratings guarantees to advertisers who shelled out more than $2 million per 30-second spot.

TV/RADIO NOTES: Not all of CBS's football ratings news is bad. Unlike ABC's TV part, "Monday Night Football" on CBS Radio enjoyed a 15 percent increase -- and 16 percent in the key 25-54 demographic -- thanks to a tight booth of Howard David, Matt Millen and Boomer Esaison. Downside: The Super Bowl was Millen's farewell, as he now is a Lions executive . . . A hot issue in skiing, collisions on the slopes, gets high-profile coverage tonight on NBC's "Dateline NBC" (10 p.m., Channels 4 and 36) with a piece on Nathan Hall, convicted of criminally negligent homicide over a crash at Vail, Colo.

"NHL Cool Shots" (2 p.m. Wednesday, ESPN) sets the scene for this weekend's All-Star game with a trip to Denver. ESPN also has the All-Star Saturday events, while Disney cousin ABC has Sunday's game . . . All-Star Saturday (4 p.m.) and the Winter X Games (6:30 p.m.) will be the tableau for an experiment in interactive TV involving DirecTV and cable systems owned by Adelphia, Charter and Comcast. Subscribers with enabling software such as WINK will be able to click on icons for informational and commercial supplements.