WORTH NOTING ON TV

* FRIDAY

ABC in Concert (ABC, 12:06-12:36 a.m., E.T.): The rock group U2 is releasing its new album, "Zooropa," and this TV series is using the occasion to focus on the present and past of this enduring, hugely popular, Grammy-winning Irish quartet. Viewers are taken behind the scenes at the making of "Zooropa" and will also see clips from the group's current European tour, which ends in Dublin next month. The show's second part offers interviews with band members - Paul (Bono) Hewson, Dave (The Edge) Evans, Adam

Clayton, and Larry Mullen - and takes a look at the making of their video "Numb," which is the first single on the "Zooropa" album. The show is hosted by another Irish group: Black 47, named for an especially terrible year - 1847 - of the Irish potato famine. Black 47's sound is a mix of traditional Irish music with modern rhythms, as they demonstrate in "Maria's Wedding." * MONDAY

Jim Thorpe Pro Sports Awards (ABC, 9-11 p.m., E.T.): A range of sports figures rarely if ever seen in one place will appear in this live special from the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. Joe DiMaggio, Charles Barkley, Riddick Bowe, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Richard Petty - these are a few examples from the impressive list. The host is Mark Curry of the ABC-TV series "Hangin' With Mr. Cooper," who is joined by other show-business names in saluting exceptional performances by professional athletes in 10 sports categories, and also to offer three special tributes.

Begun last year and designed to honor past and present sports greats, the event is named for Jim Thorpe (1888-1953), viewed by many as America's greatest all-around athlete. Winners, incidentally, are chosen by the Thorpe Academy, made up of 24 distinguished sports figures and 16 noted sports journalists. And good old Price Waterhouse - the accounting firm that has long since cornered the TV-awards market - will do their usual thing of tabulating votes and ensuring correct results.

Please check local listings for these programs.