NBA needs spurs out!....piece of crap....

[Duncanoypi]

a piece of sh :dramaquee t!!!!

http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/search/label/NBA

The San Antonio Spurs must be considered a historically great team; after all, they have won four titles in nine years. And while that is not debatable, the fact is that their success has been a detriment for the NBA, at least on domestic television.

The Spurs play in the #37 market in the U.S., automatically a strike against them in terms of television ratings. Add to that their lack of charismatic players, the fact that they play a methodical, unexciting style of basketball, and the fact that most of America could truly care less about them, and they become ratings poison each and every time they arrive on the big stage. Through the first 21 NBA Finals games played by the San Antonio Spurs, only five have drawn double-digit ratings: Games 1, 3, 4 and 5 in 1999 and Game 7 in 2005. In other words, sixteen NBA Finals games involving the Spurs have drawn less than 10% of the national audience. In fact, none of those sixteen games even drew a 9 rating. Seven of the Spurs’ 21 NBA Finals games have drawn less than a 6.7 rating.

The fourteen lowest-rated NBA Finals games involved the San Antonio Spurs – an amazing stat that does not count the rating for Game 4 between the Spurs and Cavaliers. In fact, one could venture to say that outside of the Spurs, the NBA is doing fine in the television ratings – unfortunately for the league, San Antonio simply keeps winning.

And if San Antonio continues winning, what will happen to the NBA? This series was proof positive – people will not watch the Spurs. While it should be pointed out that part of the reason why ratings were so low was because the games were uncompetitive, it is hard to imagine the numbers being any higher even if all four games were close as they were in Games 3 and 4.

Thankfully for the league, the Spurs have not won their four titles consecutively. In 2000, 2004 and 2006, ratings increased for the Finals. That being said, how long can the NBA expect to simply recover from horrible numbers like the ones incurred this year? The league bounced back from a 6.5 to an 11.5 in 2004, but the increase from '05 to '06 was much smaller -- from 8.2 to 8.5. How long before apathy regarding the omnipresent Spurs turns into apathy regarding the league as a whole? How low will ratings for the Finals go if the Spurs continue making it to the championship round? How long before the league has to bounce back from a 5 average for the Finals? From a 4 average?

The NBA needs the Spurs to start failing, and fast. Unfortunately, Tim Duncan is young and healthy, and the team is set up quite well for the future. And by the time this dynasty is over, the NBA may be beyond repair.

[spurscenter]

what piece of crap , one sided non journalistic crap is that?

Sounded like Mark Cuban.

Spurs play basketball the way basketball should be played.

People are just envious that their team doesnt play like the spurs.

:bang

[MaNuMaNiAc]

I see, now my question is this, would you watch a league that doesn't reward the best team, but the most popular one? This guy is either a retard, or the Spurs beat his team along the way, and he can't get over it. Both seem equally plausible at this point.

[dimsah]

Why would an average fan give a fuck about tv ratings? It really has turned in to the weakest smack imaginable.

[mathbzh]

With Lebron being the media darling the rating are still low. Why?
It can't be all the Spurs fault.
Maybe the answer is obvious: The cavs didn't have a chance to win that series.
The East is soooo weak... the pistons and a out of his mind Wade have hide that the last couple of season but the truth is that the NBA champion is the team winning the WCF.
Another factor is the fact that the US team can't win anything for years, that the 2 regular season MVP candidate are a German and a Canadian, that the final MVP is a young french PG... that the NBA is international.

[Axl Van Dam]

:ihit Whoever wrote this should be dragged out into the streets and shot! :ihit

[WalterBenitez]

I am amazed how TV's ratings rules the US' culture :oops

Not only this piece of s...t, but mostly of the media pay attention to that, probably more than in another country, am I right? :nerd

[word]

The league bounced back from a 6.5 to an 11.5 in 2004, but the increase from '05 to '06 was much smaller -- from 8.2 to 8.5.

He blames the Spurs for the low ratings of the Dallas/Miami series ?

[carina_gino20]

as Pop has already said, these guys who can't find the beauty in watching tony and manu play, as well as pure team basketball, are just poor ignorant individuals.

[spurscenter]

its like american idol. popularity contest. Bullshit.

Whatever the fuck that means. I dont even know. Im drunk.

[Cry Havoc]

If the Knicks or the Celtics were in the finals, the ratings would be through the roof.

If Kobe managed to (ha!) make the Finals against a Celtic team, it would probably draw record ratings.

[fyatuk]

a piece of sh :dramaquee t!!!!

http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/search/label/NBA

the fact that most of America could truly care less about them

I DESPISE this saying. It should be "couldn't care less", since "could care less" implies there is some positive there. The words contradict the usage, and it needs to stop. I refuse to pay attention to any writer who doesn't realize this.

[td4mvp3]

I DESPISE this saying. It should be "couldn't care less", since "could care less" implies there is some positive there. The words contradict the usage, and it needs to stop. I refuse to pay attention to any writer who doesn't realize this.
good luck with that. anywho, i say screw it, embrace the ratings hit, embrace being about team instead of a media-concocted advertising machine. hell, they should actively look to kill tv ratings just to rub it into everyone's face "yeah, we know we kill ratings, but you kill our image by regurgitating nonsense without watching a game (methodical and nonexciting my tail, you try making a bounce pass for a dunk or dribbling between some guy's legs) so we're returning the favor. everyone, synchronize poker faces."

[Extra Stout]

I guess David Stern needs to come to grips with the reality that the fans and media no longer think a level playing field for the league's teams is a good thing. They whine when the Spurs make the Finals. They whine when Portland wins the lottery instead of Boston. They whine when Houston gets Yao Ming instead of Golden State. They whine when the Spurs beat the Suns. They whine when the Jazz beat the Warriors.

In order to accomodate the wishes of fans and media, Stern needs to institure new policies that ensure that major-market marquee teams get preferential access to the best players. Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago should be winning the vast majority of championships, with the small-market untermensch sneaking in only occasionally to gobble up the odd title. And under no circumstances should a bunch of Mexicans be celebrating championships. The NBA is for corporate barons and hip-hop kings only.

In addition, the NBA needs to rig the officiating and bend the rules now and then to make sure the high-scoring teams with big Q ratings advance in the playoffs. Popularity should count for something, not just basketball prowess.

Ideas like equal opportunity and meritocracy are quaint 18th-century silliness. America wants aristocracy, and it wants it now.

[Lebowski Brickowski]

Who gives a shit anymore. I don't even get angry at all this bullshit from the media. I just watch my team win












and win and win and win and win and win and win and win and .......


Anybody with any sense knows that the Spurs are what's right with the NBA.

[Phenomanul]

Too bad Nielsen Ratings don't extend to cover the world viewing audience...

Otherwise half of these pseudo-beat-writers would have to eat their crow.

[BigBeezie]

What a lop-sided article. At least people watch the big game 7's or the Spurs 1999 run probably helped with New York. I guess Lebrick couldn't attract the masses this year.

[smeagol]

When it comes to ratings, we have earned another *.

What a pitty! What a shame!

Ok, where was I . . . ahh yes . . . I was about grab a cold one and re-watch the finals and laugh may ass off with respect to these pseudo-sport journalists :lmao :lmao :lmao

[BeerIsGood!]

Why do people keep posting shit from "blogs" on here? Who cares what some idiot with a blog thinks? At least reserve your outrage for someone with credentials.

[SpursWillOwn]

nba is not about tv ratings my friends.. it's about continuing what other legends in the past has built up.. if everything is just about ratings i think we should get duncan ginobili and parker a role in desperate househusbands instead of playin basketball

[SpurYank]

Mark Cuban was on "Morning Joe" on MSNBC this morning and was asked about this very topic. He said three things were at play here. One was that this is 2007, and for the last few years the options for viewing have multiplied. Yes, there are more people in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, etc, what there isn't more of in those cities (the East cities) are teams good enough to challenge the West, and thus make it interesting to watch.

Secondly, he said the NBA needs to do a better job with publicity in cities like Pittsburgh and other major cities where there are no NBA teams. In fact, all across the country.

I forget the third thing he said, and it may be because Joe Scarborough never allowed him to go on. Scarborough, like a lot of middle-aged white men, wants only New York, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, etc. to ALWAYS play for championships. In fact, Scarborough predicted that if NY could land Kobe, then the viewing of the NBA finals would return to its former high figures. That kind of simple-minded thinking prevails with the same people who write these articles.

Cuban didn't mention the Spurs a single time.

IMO, Americans are so nationalistic that teams with "foreigners" simply are not worth watching. Why, they are just un-American. How dare they take over our sport.

[michaelwcho]

Who gives a s****t what the ratings are? Name me one fan who is materially affected by what the ratings are. The only people who care are the advertisers and the stations. It has nothing to do with us.

[Spurminator]

Who gives a s****t what the ratings are?

People whose teams aren't playing.

[dbreiden83080]

Good god this asshole needs to do some research. I must have missed the part where the finals ratings were huge last year when the Spurs were not in it. The reason they were bad this year was because the Cavs sucked and everyone knew it. How were the ratings in the 05 finals? Much better because it was a good series.

[Clutch20]

a piece of sh :dramaquee t!!!!

http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/search/label/NBA

The San Antonio Spurs must be considered a historically great team.....................
A weak attempt to hide a serious case of trophy envy. :toast

Move to Phoenix, your blog is a......nonfactor.

[MoSpur]

That article is stating mostly facts. The ratings do go down when the Spurs play in the Finals. That is not a surprise. San Antonio is not a huge TV market. Everyone knew that. What isn't true is the part where the Spurs needing to fail. The Spurs are what teams should be.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

NBA revenue outside the US is paying off sustantially. It gets to the point where having 2 million less viewers inside the US means zero. Some reporters are afraid of losing their jobs.

[mavsfan1000]

A better title would be "The NBA needs the East to get better"

[gospursgooo]

I DESPISE this saying. It should be "couldn't care less", since "could care less" implies there is some positive there. The words contradict the usage, and it needs to stop. I refuse to pay attention to any writer who doesn't realize this.

Ha..ha.. you're right. Why do we want to pay attention to a "writer" who doesn't even know how to write?

[Avitus1]

Nielsen Ratings is a primitive way to gauge sporting events. If the NBA doesn't like its ratings maybe they should try to focus on how to market the game and not "What team causes the problem." If I had a bunch of kids who kept falling down all the time I wouldn't blame one of the kids I'd figure out how to fix the steps. On top of that ABC is shit at handling sports when was the last time you watched any good coverage on sports on that channel? Local news doesn't count. Nobody wants to tune into a basketball game and listen to the ESPN guys compare it to football and hockey games, they are watching basketball so compare it to basketball. Blaming the Spurs for the leagues faults is like blaming doctors for cancer.

[Avitus1]

A better title would be "The NBA needs the East to get better"

Agreed.

[TampaDude]

A better title would be "The NBA needs the East to get better"

Exactly! :toast

[ObiwanGinobili]

My mom has been a Neilson home for the last 3 yrs.
Because she doesn't have cable, and they need a cetain percentage of homes reporting that do not hqave cable. Also she doesn't get the "box" attached to ehr TV - she gets a paper diary that she has to fill out every week and send back. Then they mail her a $5 bill.
no kidding. 5 dollars cash. :lol
I laugh everytime she mentions it.

[Cry Havoc]

A better title would be "The NBA needs the East to get better"

HOLY CRAP.

I can't believe you just posted something that I agree with!

Hahahaah.

QFT. :toast

[Solid D]

Start the games earlier or put them on TNT or ESPN. That's where the sports viewers go late at night. ABC has terrible NBA ratings, particularly at night. An exception was the Sunday afternoon game 7 of the ECF Cavs @ Pistons in '06. SUNDAY afternoon when men channel surf in the single digit channels for golf and NASCAR.

There are a lot of TV sets in the Eastern Time Zone. The best time to watch an NBA game is the 4th quarter. That's late back east when the 4th quarter is around 11 PM.

As an aside, people in the US don't watch sports on TV as much as they used to do. Computer time is up. TV time is down. All facts of life.

[Solid D]

One more comment. Ideally, the NBA awards the next contract back to NBC. They did a much better job than ABC has done.

[judaspriestess]

The NBA needs the Spurs to start failing, and fast. Unfortunately, Tim Duncan is young and healthy, and the team is set up quite well for the future. And by the time this dynasty is over, the NBA may be beyond repair.

How about a big fat FUCK YOU!! That is just so damn rude.

[Ya Vez]

I thought this was about the game on the floor... not ratings...

[ElNono]

What he fails to acknowledge, is that if you rig the league in such a way that the best team doesn't win, but the most 'exciting/popular' one does, then the league is rigged, you already know who is going to win, and what's the point of playing the games at all...
That would be ratings of 0, essentially.
Small market teams winning is bad for the NBA as a business, but you have to put the integrity and competitive of the game on top of the business aspect, otherwise you basically have no product.

[efrem1]

What hilarity. All hail the mighty small-market powerhouse!!

[DieMrBond]

Someone really needs to make a video of this last playoff run, showing all the 'exciting' plays that people missed out on by automatically assuming that the Spurs are boring. How many between the legs passes, alley-oops, amazing passes, etc did the Spurs make during this run? More than enough.

Im so sick of the 'Spurs are boring'. They play great basketball, with a bit of excitement thrown in too!

[dg7md]

Afterall, we all know: TV ratings decide the quality of a product.

[sabar]

The majority of the lowest rated games were broadcast by ABC.

Coincidence? I think not. (don't bother bringing up cum hoc ergo propter hoc)

[Clutch20]

Think out of the box!





http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q266/andygamezusa/neilsonbox.jpg
The black box of the A. C. Nielsen Company, also known as the People Meter, is the principal device used to determine what people in the United States are watching on television. The People Meter sits on top of the TV set and is programmed with the age and gender of each member of the household. When members of the household watch TV, they enter their code into the People Meter, which records the time and the channel being watched. Every evening at a specified time the People Meter sends its recorded data to a central computer via a modem, and statistics are gathered to determine what TV programs that day were the most popular.

This is a list of the Neilson's Top 20 "Designated Market Areas"

1. New York City
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. Philadelphia
5. SF Bay Area
6. Dallas/Ft. Worth
7. Boston / New Hampshire
8. Washington, D.C.
9 .Atlanta
10. Houston
11. Detroit/Windsor
12.Tampa / St. Pete / Sarasota
13.Phoenix
14. Seattle / Tacoma / Olympia / Bellingham
15. Minneapolis/St. Paul
16.Miami / Ft. Lauderdale
17.Cleveland/Akron/Canton
18.Denver
19.Orlando/Daytona Beach/Melbourne
20.Sacramento / Stockton / Modesto

Can you discern the sources of motivation for the Spurs to "out"
Here's a link for more Neilso info:
http://www.nielsenmedia.com/nc/portal/site/Public/menuitem.55dc65b4a7d5adff3f65936147a062a0/?vgnextoid=6573d3b8b0c3d010VgnVCM100000ac0a260aRCR D#