On the Mark: As the Finals lay dying

[The Red Hood]

On the Mark: As the Finals lay dying
Mark Kriegel
FOXSports.com

Some of you are mourning the end of The Sopranos.

Then there are others, myself included, grieving for the demise of another formerly must-see television event.
That would be the NBA Finals.

They debuted last Thursday to record-low ratings. Basketball fans were then left to endure two-plus days of features on San Antonio's Riverwalk and endless updates on Tony Parker's nuptials, suggesting that there might be limits to how much Eva Longoria the American public can take. Finally, on Sunday evening, the series resumed, pitted against the long-awaited finale of the Sopranos.

Those of us who care for the game asked how that could happen. By the second quarter, however, the point was moot. No one cared. Not even basketball fans.

The ratings for the Finals are flatter than Phil Leotardo's head. But forget the Sopranos. David Stern's league has bigger problems. Game 1 — ripe with possibility, coming right off LeBron James' mesmerizing performance against Detroit — couldn't even beat So You Think You Can Dance?


Has David Stern outsmarted himself?

In the interest of fairness, I'm obliged to mention that this series is something of an anomaly. For without James, the Cavaliers are the least accomplished collection of players ever to appear in the championship round. What's more, difficult as it is to believe, the series may improve. Cleveland may yet get a game or two and provide the illusion of competitiveness.

But this isn't about this year. What's happened to the Finals isn't exactly a new development. It's not about Tim Duncan's lack of charisma. Nor is it about the endless search for another Michael Jordan, who hasn't played in the Finals since 1998, a year before the Sopranos aired. David Stern has long been known as the smartest commissioner in sports. Still, one can't help but wonder if he's finally outsmarted himself.

ABC did a 6.3 rating for the first game — down 19 percent from the previous year's opener — and a 6.5 for the second. Compare that to, say, the World Series. Last year's five games between St. Louis and Detroit was the lowest-rated World Series ever. It did a 10.1.

Worse, if the ratings hold (which they will), it will mark the fourth time in five years that the Finals averaged single-digit ratings. It's worth mentioning, of course, that the NBA has been with ABC for five years now.

Stern's people will tell you that we live in a new age of new media. Everybody but the NFL has taken a hit. Appointment TV is a thing of the past. But these arguments neglect a central point: even in this new age, there is no substitute for good old regularly scheduled network TV.

The commissioner made huge money for his owners when he negotiated his pact with ABC/ESPN/TNT. It was a groundbreaking deal. The problem is, every year the NBA feels more like a regional cable operation. The TNT broadcasts are fine, but you never know if you're going to get basketball or reruns of Law and Order. As for the Finals, they're on too late. I'm not talking about the kiddies, either. I'm talking about rank and file East Coast basketball junkies. Again, this is nothing new — NBC was as bad on this count as ABC — but it's taken a toll over the years.

Unlike NBC, though, ABC doesn't really promote the game. That's all left to its cable arm, ESPN. The network doesn't seem interested in anything so mundane as showing a good game on a Sunday afternoon. And that's a shame, because that's still where the franchise is built, where casual fans get hooked during the season.

David Stern is renegotiating the league's TV deal right now. He might want to consider how the Finals became a big event in the first place, all those people who became NBA fans watching Julius and Magic and Larry and Michael and Shaq and Kobe on network TV.

The great sport of pro basketball is now following the business model of boxing and hockey. Perhaps Stern doesn't think it could happen, that basketball could again become a niche sport. Then again, Phil Leotardo never saw it coming, either.

[LilMissSPURfect]

fuck the boring ABC and ESPN bring in the crew @ TNT....FOX heck even NBC!!

[Avitus1]

fuck the boring ABC and ESPN bring in the crew @ TNT....FOX heck even NBC!!

AGREED!!!!

[EVAY]

STOP WITH THE MOURNING, ALREADY!!! The world-wide audience is larger than ever...the NBA itself competes with network and cable coverage (at least pre-finals)...the summer tv viewing audience is ALWAYS smaller than for say, the SuperBowl (which is marketed not as a playoff series finale but as an annual '"winner take all" ) and even the World Series is not as popular as it used to be. People have lots more options for how to entertain themselves these days than they used to.
The NBA finals are for FANS of THE GAME. If the NBA could figure out how to market the game rather than personalities of the players, and if there was a single game "this is for all the marbles", then the viewing public in the U.S. would be bigger than it is. I like the way it is. I want there to be a seven game finals...so I think we have to accept the fact that Americans, by and large, don't understand, care about, or are willing to pay attention long enough to watch a series like this. Other countries' populations are growing in interest and tv viewership, so it is more of a local phenomenon than you seem to realize. Let up, already!!

[Obstructed_View]

Game 1 — ripe with possibility, coming right off LeBron James' mesmerizing performance against Detroit — couldn't even beat So You Think You Can Dance?
Proof that he didn't even watch the Detroit series. Lebron played less than 20 minutes of compelling basketball in six games.

When the people that complain about it make it so obvious that they are just repeating what they hear, there's no way to salvage what's happening to the NBA. No wonder David Stern is looking internationally.

[Extra Stout]

David Stern hasn't outsmarted himself. He just understands that the future is not found in the United States of America, so lackluster Finals ratings aren't that big a deal.

ESPN doesn't care, either. They understand that the future is in the new media, not broadcast television, and they are adjusting.

[ChumpDumper]

Has David Stern outsmarted himself? Not if he's getting more money from the new TV contract as reported.
As for the Finals, they're on too late. I'm not talking about the kiddies, either. I'm talking about rank and file East Coast basketball junkies.You have got to be kidding me. Leno is too late for you pussies?

You aren't a junkie if you can't stay up past midnight. Fuck you.

[dimsah]

Not if he's getting more money from the new TV contract as reported.You have got to be kidding me. Leno is too late for you pussies?

You aren't a junkie if you can't stay up past midnight. Fuck you.
Easy now. It's a little different for me because I have to get up at 3:30 am
and be out of the house by 4:15. The day after a game is brutal for me at work because I will only get about 3 hours sleep.

But maybe the ratings would be a little better if tip-off was started a little earlier. A "casual" NBA fan isn't going to stay up past midnight to watch basketball regardless of who's playing, and that's the audience they seem to covet so much.

[degenerate_gambler]

Proof that he didn't even watch the Detroit series. Lebron played less than 20 minutes of compelling basketball in six games.


and if one wanted to get technical regarding his 'breakout' game 5, subtract his 18 pts in both OT's and he ends up with a rather pedestrian 30 pt. game. :yawn:

[GhostofAlfrederickHughes]

The REAL reason the ratings are "dying" has nothing to do with who's playing.
It has everything to do with the fact that the season is too frigging long, capped off by the long playoff slog and the games start at 9 pm EST.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that most of America----especially in the 'media centers' of NYC, D.C., etc.---have gone to bed by the time the games start. (Yes, it's early in L.A., but the California media won't cover anything that's not Kobe-related with any real zeal.)

Shorten the season to a 60-65 game set, re-seed after each round, and start the frigging games (not the pregame blather, the ACTUAL tip off) at no later than 8:30 pm.

[dbreiden83080]

Stern has got to make changes here there is no doubt. Get the playoff games off of TNT and ESPN and make sure that ABC shows all the big games reg season and playoffs and promotes the hell out of them.

[MadDog73]

Stern has got to make changes here there is no doubt. Get the playoff games off of TNT and ESPN and make sure that ABC shows all the big games reg season and playoffs and promotes the hell out of them.

Fuck ABC and ESPN. They suck.

Either get NBC back, or just make the whole Playoffs TNT only.

Real fans will either go to the games, get cable, or go to the bars.

Honestly, I'm suprised TNT doesn't just pay the money to get everything. I guess they can't afford it...

[v2freak]

He's totally right...







I'm tired of hearing about Parker and Longoria as a couple

[MadDog73]

I'm tired of hearing about Parker and Longoria as a couple

Well, get ready for tonight's Halftime story on LeBron.

I wonder... is there anything they can say we don't know? I guess we'll find out.

[nkdlunch]

4 time champions biatch!!!

[Budkin]

*sigh* Another insightful article...

[judaspriestess]

althouth there might be low ratings in the US. The Finals are being watched by BILLIONS of people through out the world.

How many countries are televising the game? Isn't it several hundred?

So you think you can dance or whatever the hell the name of it is, just proves how stupid many Americans have become.

I for one do not watch network TV except for jeopardy and sports.

[Extra Stout]

althouth there might be low ratings in the US. The Finals are being watched by BILLIONS of people through out the world.

How many countries are televising the game? Isn't it several hundred?

So you think you can dance or whatever the hell the name of it is, just proves how stupid many Americans have become.

I for one do not watch network TV except for jeopardy and sports.
Not BILLIONS.

More like 120 million who are actually watching.

[CubanMustGo]

I think billions is high. Even the World Cup final only drew 715 million and the WC is way more popular worldwide than the NBA.

[smeagol]

One thing I do have ask Stern is why the fuck isn't League Pass available in LatAm?

Why can't Direct TV, who is boasting about it's digital capabilities, set aside 10 channels to show the NBA to those of us who can afford to pay extra for it?

If the NBA does not put LP next year I will personally murder Stern.

[Obstructed_View]

David Stern hasn't outsmarted himself. He just understands that the future is not found in the United States of America, so lackluster Finals ratings aren't that big a deal.

ESPN doesn't care, either. They understand that the future is in the new media, not broadcast television, and they are adjusting.
Because you had pointed out evidence that ABC isn't losing money on the NBA, I looked it up and mentioned it in another post that ABC gets international rights to the games, too. What David Stern has done is outsmarted America.

Anybody that claims that they are a "basketball junkie" and is unwilling to stay up past 11 PM should make sure to avoid playoff hockey.

[Obstructed_View]

One thing I do have ask Stern is why the fuck isn't League Pass available in LatAm?

Why can't Direct TV, who is boasting about it's digital capabilities, set aside 10 channels to show the NBA to those of us who can afford to pay extra for it?
That's interesting. So you can get DirecTV, but there's no League Pass? Can you get any other packages? Maybe that's the part of the international rights that ESPN and TNT have. That doesn't really make sense though.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Another article about ratings woes? Whoop-dee-fucking-doo!

It's looking more and more like a bunch of hack writers planned on writing fluff pieces fellating The Next Jordan and were left scrambling for a new topic to write about after he stunk up the joint in the first two games.

Are sports writers aware that if they shit on every league that maybe one day their readers will start agreeing with them and not ever bother reading the sports page? Is there some central trough that these dipshits go to think up topics?

[twentyone]

He is making a good point, he's not talking about the Spurs and faulting them, he's blaming Stern for how he's handled bringing in new blood and fresh faces.

All TV in America is moving to reality crap like American Idol who's ratings dictate what the hell most people watch in the US. Everyones ratings have fallen this year based on all sorts of reasons, one crazy one is the earlier time change etc. Idol and that Dance one have been the big growers. Hell that's all they talk about on Sports radio, except Sopranos for this week.

I like the NBC angle though. Bring that stuff back, they did it right and advertised and everything. Hell bring back Bob Costas! Wasn't he the guy that did the '99 Finals?

[Extra Stout]

The NBA Finals will be on ABC at least through the year 2016.

[degenerate_gambler]

Good call Mr. Stout:

http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/2007/04/nba-likely-to-stay-with-abc.html


or

http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/2007/05/poor-ratings-will-not-have-impact-on.html

[AlamoSpursFan]

It would be mildly amusing to see what Fox would do with the NBA...

[TampaDude]

The NBA Finals will be on ABC at least through the year 2016.

So, we'll have to watch 40-year-old TD go for ring #10 on ABC??? :lol

[ClingingMars]

Not if he's getting more money from the new TV contract as reported.You have got to be kidding me. Leno is too late for you pussies?

You aren't a junkie if you can't stay up past midnight. Fuck you.

On a regular basis, when I have to get up for work the next day and my parents scream at me when I stay up that late, then yes, it is too fucking late.

-Mars

[MadDog73]

The NBA Finals will be on ABC at least through the year 2016.


Maybe by then the Trailblazers will be ratings champs... :lol

[Obstructed_View]

Maybe by then the Trailblazers will be ratings champs... :lol
That'll be tough, since Greg Oden will be a Spur.

[MadDog73]

That'll be tough, since Greg Oden will be a Spur.

:lol :tu

[judaspriestess]

Not BILLIONS.

More like 120 million who are actually watching.

my mistake, its Miss Universe that is watched by BILLIONS. Still 120 million is a fairly decent amount.

[Extra Stout]

By 2016, ABC may not bother with an English-language feed for the US broadcast of the Finals.

[itzsoweezee]

Fuck ABC and ESPN. They suck.

Either get NBC back, or just make the whole Playoffs TNT only.

Real fans will either go to the games, get cable, or go to the bars.

Honestly, I'm suprised TNT doesn't just pay the money to get everything. I guess they can't afford it...


NBC??? NBC was horrible. bob costas is a complete shithead and he doesn't even like basketball. and i really miss ahmad rashad too. we definitely need more of that jackass on tv. people are so revisionist sometimes. the nba on network tv has always sucked.

i do agree, however, that the TNT crew is great. they're the best broadcasting team regardless of sport.

[Obstructed_View]

NBC??? NBC was horrible. bob costas is a complete shithead and he doesn't even like basketball. and i really miss ahmad rashad too. we definitely need more of that jackass on tv. people are so revisionist sometimes. the nba on network tv has always sucked.

i do agree, however, that the TNT crew is great. they're the best broadcasting team regardless of sport.
Funny, since he started out as the play by play guy for the Spirits of St. Louis of the ABA.

[ChumpDumper]

On a regular basis, when I have to get up for work the next day and my parents scream at me when I stay up that late, then yes, it is too fucking late.

-MarsYour parents suck. You should start smoking meth to teach them a lesson.