LilMissSPURfect
06-15-2005, 09:38 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/318094p-272093c.html
Final indignity
NBA ratings could spell doom
Tuning In
A record low number of viewers tuned in for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, where Gregg Popovich's Spurs beat the Pistons.
The ratings spin offered by ABC suits following Game 1 of the NBA Finals shows they don't have much faith in David Stern's product.
Thursday's Pistons-Spurs matchup recorded a 7.2 national rating, the second-lowest rated Game 1 ever for an NBA Finals in prime time, down 27% from a 9.8 for Game 1 of Pistons-Lakers last year. Pistons-Spurs - a live championship sports event - could not even beat CBS' "CSI" rerun, which won the night.
Prior to the release of the national rating for Game 1, and in a jive attempt to justify reality, ABC officials issued a statement reporting the 8.8 "overnight" rating (which measures the 55 largest TV markets in the U.S.) for Pistons-Spurs, but highlighted the fact that the rating was "9% higher than the last non-Lakers Finals Game 1" (2003 Nets-Spurs, 8.1 rating).
This just in: According to ABC brass, the Lakers, as a TV property, are a separate entity floating above the rest of the NBA. Maybe that's why ABC hyped its Thursday pregame interview with Phil Jackson more than they hyped Game 1 itself.
And yet, we are happy to report despite the absence of the Lakers, and after a momentum-building (ha ha) three-day hiatus, ABC actually will air Game 2 of Pistons-Spurs tonight.
ABC's reaction to Game 1 ratings should embarrass the entire league. What good is the overall NBA product to ABC if all the honchos there do is hope the Lakers make it to the Finals? Of course, often Stern too has been heard talking about how the Lakers can drive ratings. So maybe he applauds ABC's propaganda.
There is no need to recount how Stern's decision to get the most money for his owners, in return for making the NBA a basically all-cable league, has hurt the product. There is no need to detail how the lack of a consistent "free" TV platform has hampered the NBA's overall promotion and ratings.
The combined promotional forces of TNT and ESPN, the alleged "Worldwide Leader in Sports," had absolutely no impact on casual fans, a necessity when it comes to driving ratings for major sports events. By the end of the current TV deal, the NBA is going to be devalued as a TV product. While the commish might have done right by the owners in the last TV negotiation, he could get whacked in the back end of this deal.
For if this ratings slide - which shows a rapidly diminishing interest in the NBA - continues, are Stern's good friends at Disney-owned ESPN/ABC and TNT going to want to pay millions more for NBA TV rights? Will any other network enter the bidding to help jack up the price? No and no.
Still, if ABC had aired both conference finals, with games every other night, and promoted the heck out of the NBA playoffs on its entertainment shows, maybe casual fans would have some interest in Pistons-Spurs.
And the suits at ABC would not need to use the Lakers as an excuse.
I hate to keep harping on the ratings....but ITS not SPURS AND DETROIT'S FAULT!!!
Maybe if ABC/ESPN showed interest in the other 28 teams [LA & NY/SHAQ need not apply] during the season maybe the TYPICAL viewers would too.!!!!!!!!
Final indignity
NBA ratings could spell doom
Tuning In
A record low number of viewers tuned in for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, where Gregg Popovich's Spurs beat the Pistons.
The ratings spin offered by ABC suits following Game 1 of the NBA Finals shows they don't have much faith in David Stern's product.
Thursday's Pistons-Spurs matchup recorded a 7.2 national rating, the second-lowest rated Game 1 ever for an NBA Finals in prime time, down 27% from a 9.8 for Game 1 of Pistons-Lakers last year. Pistons-Spurs - a live championship sports event - could not even beat CBS' "CSI" rerun, which won the night.
Prior to the release of the national rating for Game 1, and in a jive attempt to justify reality, ABC officials issued a statement reporting the 8.8 "overnight" rating (which measures the 55 largest TV markets in the U.S.) for Pistons-Spurs, but highlighted the fact that the rating was "9% higher than the last non-Lakers Finals Game 1" (2003 Nets-Spurs, 8.1 rating).
This just in: According to ABC brass, the Lakers, as a TV property, are a separate entity floating above the rest of the NBA. Maybe that's why ABC hyped its Thursday pregame interview with Phil Jackson more than they hyped Game 1 itself.
And yet, we are happy to report despite the absence of the Lakers, and after a momentum-building (ha ha) three-day hiatus, ABC actually will air Game 2 of Pistons-Spurs tonight.
ABC's reaction to Game 1 ratings should embarrass the entire league. What good is the overall NBA product to ABC if all the honchos there do is hope the Lakers make it to the Finals? Of course, often Stern too has been heard talking about how the Lakers can drive ratings. So maybe he applauds ABC's propaganda.
There is no need to recount how Stern's decision to get the most money for his owners, in return for making the NBA a basically all-cable league, has hurt the product. There is no need to detail how the lack of a consistent "free" TV platform has hampered the NBA's overall promotion and ratings.
The combined promotional forces of TNT and ESPN, the alleged "Worldwide Leader in Sports," had absolutely no impact on casual fans, a necessity when it comes to driving ratings for major sports events. By the end of the current TV deal, the NBA is going to be devalued as a TV product. While the commish might have done right by the owners in the last TV negotiation, he could get whacked in the back end of this deal.
For if this ratings slide - which shows a rapidly diminishing interest in the NBA - continues, are Stern's good friends at Disney-owned ESPN/ABC and TNT going to want to pay millions more for NBA TV rights? Will any other network enter the bidding to help jack up the price? No and no.
Still, if ABC had aired both conference finals, with games every other night, and promoted the heck out of the NBA playoffs on its entertainment shows, maybe casual fans would have some interest in Pistons-Spurs.
And the suits at ABC would not need to use the Lakers as an excuse.
I hate to keep harping on the ratings....but ITS not SPURS AND DETROIT'S FAULT!!!
Maybe if ABC/ESPN showed interest in the other 28 teams [LA & NY/SHAQ need not apply] during the season maybe the TYPICAL viewers would too.!!!!!!!!