I heard on TV that last night was down 24% vs last year, but can't find anything on-line about it.
might have been, since these are the last two teams anybody wanted to see in the Finals. but i just tell them to suck it up.
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Your San Antonio Spurs
Doing Their Best To Ruin the Dreams of Others
^ Spurs business sign. Like we care?!
The NBA Finals...where legends are ignored.
The ratings were pretty good inside the SBC last night. That's all I GAF about.
Ratings for all three networks for the NBA playoffs are down substantially from last year after the first three rounds of the playoffs, according to figures compiled by the Sports Business Daily.
ABC has attracted a 3.4 rating and a 7 share after nine games, down 26.1 percent from the 4.6 rating/10 share it received last season.
TNT's 3.0 rating for its 44-game schedule is down 11.8percent from a 3.4 share in 2005.
And ESPN's 2.6 rating attracting 2.366 million households is down 3.7 percent from last season's 2.7 rating/2.414 million households.
The NBA could claim a victory by dominating two important demographics: males 18-34 and males 18-49. The playoffs won 22 of 24 nights in those groups during the May sweeps, with TNT claiming 15 of the nights and ESPN winning seven.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - What if they held an NBA finals and none of the stars came?
That's the problem facing the National Basketball Association, which is looking at one of its most star-free championship series in recent memory. That's not good news for a league that was already seeing a sharp drop in merchandise sales and television viewership.
The San Antonio Spurs and the Detroit Pistons have a number of very talented players. But when the Pistons beat the Shaquille O'Neal's Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, the league's last chance of having some star power for its championship also ended.
The initial ratings for Game 1 of the finals showed just less than 9 percent of the homes in the nation's largest television markets watching the game. That's down by almost 25 percent from last year's L.A. Lakers-Pistons final.
ABC tried to portray this as a gain from the last time a Game 1 didn't feature the Lakers. But that's not the point. The absences of popular, large-market teams like the Lakers and New York Knicks from the playoffs this year, as well as the league's most popular players like Cleveland's LeBron James, is hurting the game's popularity.
Of course, weak television ratings are more of an immediate problem for the broadcasters, not the league, which has its rights deals locked in for three more seasons. The more immediate problem is merchandise sales, which are down 42 percent for the year to date.
"They're missing their chance to highlight their most popular players," said Neil Schwartz of SportsScanInfo, which tracks sales of sporting goods at 13,000 stores nationwide.
That compares to a hot 2003-2004 season, when James and Denver rookie Carmelo Anthony burst onto the scene and shot to the top of the charts in merchandise sales.
"I'm not sure if Denver played Cleveland in the finals, it would be the same phenomena as when they both came into the league," said Schwartz.
But part of the problem is that NBA fans have not warmed to the league's current crop of foreign-born stars the way baseball fans have. Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki has the best-selling jersey of any foreign born star, but he's No. 24 in the rankings by SportsScan.
Houston center Yao Ming might be a huge star in China, but here there are 40 jerseys more popular than Yao's.
And both Nowitzki and Yao outsell any jersey worn by a Spur or Piston.
Spurs center Manu Ginobili, who was good enough to lead Argentina past the United States for the Olympic Gold Medal in 2004, isn't even on the radar on year-to-date sales.
"Pete Maravich sells more uniforms today than Ginobili," said Schwartz.
It doesn't help that retailers are starting to cut back on their inventory of NBA merchandise due to the threat of a possible strike or lockout.
The comments from management and the union on problems in labor negotiations seem like more sabre-rattling than a true threat to the start of the 2005-06 NBA season. But the din has been loud enough to catch the attention of retailers.
Commissioner David Stern said in April that the league had been notified that at least one major seller of its goods was cutting off all orders because of the labor uncertainty.
Its blue-collar finals notwithstanding, some things are going right for the NBA.
The league has done a good job promoting the game in overseas markets. It also just set attendance records this season, with the league-wide average showing 90 percent of seats being sold.
By comparison, the Major League Baseball team with the best attendance last year, the New York Yankees, sold only 80 percent of its available seats.
Ratings are down, but that is as much about the shift of more of its inventory of games from broadcast networks to cable than anything else.
But the difficulties are another sign that the game is in too vulnerable a position to engage in any kind of work stoppage. Once the finals are over, the league and the union have to stop playing games as well and reach an agreement relatively quickly.
On the rebound, NBA seeking a lift
League tries to raise image after rocky year
June 10, 2005
BY KORTNEY STRINGER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The NBA Finals still could go either way -- for the teams and for the league itself.
While the Detroit Pistons defend their championship over the next couple of weeks, the National Basketball Association will attempt to rebound in a season plagued by some public relations nightmares.
To achieve its goal, the NBA plans to step up its marketing efforts to lure fans in metro Detroit and across the country to its games, Web site and events.
The Finals present a key marketing opportunity for the NBA to plead its case to fans turned off by recent scandals.
While still reeling from the fall of boy wonder Kobe Bryant -- who spent much of last year in a war of words with former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Shaquille O'Neal and a rape trial -- the NBA's image suffered another blow after a brawl erupted between Pistons fans and some Indiana Pacers at the Palace of Auburn Hills last fall.
Then there's the lackluster effort of the league's American players in the Olympics.
"They are going to try to give fans that good feeling that may have been taken away from what has happened," said Robert Tuchman, president of TSE Sports & Entertainment, a marketing firm.
But the league's image troubles go deeper than one season. Some fans lament that the NBA is missing the iconic teams such as the star-studded Lakers or Boston Celtics of years past.
Last year's Lakers lost in the Finals to the Pistons, but fell short of the playoffs this year. As a result, D-Clarence Rey-nolds, a Detroit shop owner, said he'll only watch a few games because they normally don't meet the standards of years past.
"You have these millionaires acting like children," he said. "They need to get back to real basketball."
Reynolds isn't alone. Although the NBA saw record attendance of 21.3 million during the regular season, it has lost about half of its networkTV audience in seven years, according to Nielsen Media Research. This year, the decline in part reflects the loss of viewers in big cities such as Los Angeles and New York, neither of which made the playoffs. Additionally, sales of licensed NBA apparel slipped during the regular season in the low double-digits, according to the NBA.
The NBA has been in defensive mode to reverse the declines. Earlier this year, the league tapped Matthew Dowd, who helped shape the strategy that led to President George W. Bush's successful re-election campaign last year.
This is the first year the NBA plans to have both of its marketing vehicles in the same area -- Detroit -- at the same time during the championship games, starting next week.
The NBA Jam Van and "Rhythm 'n Rims vehicles will also offer activities, including shooting contests, games and clinics with yet-to-be-determined NBA players.
"We will try to bring the Finals experience to as many people as possible," said Sal LaRocca, an NBA senior vice president, who says the league expects overall merchandise sales for the league to be up for the year after the Finals.
The league will also try to reach people online. On www.nba.com, a miniature version of basketball legend Dr. J -- Julius Erving -- pops up on the Web sites of 20 NBA teams to convince fans in cities besides San Antonio and Detroit to tune in to the Finals. The league also used viral marketing -- which attempts to spread the word quickly online -- sending out about 3 million e-mail messages urging people to watch the Finals, up about a third from last year.
For the first time, the league will also sell so-called locker room T-shirts, which are handed to players after they win conference finals, in team colors. The NBA says the colored shirts, which replaced the black and white ones they normally sell, have had strong sales so far, although it declined to provide numbers.
The NBA sees marketing opportunities in the Spurs team lineup, which has several international players, including Argentinean guard Manu Ginobili. To build awareness internationally, the NBA will host Finals viewing parties at places such as restaurants and movie theaters in a dozen markets, including China, Taiwan and France, up from four last year.
Of course, the Pistons' presence in the Finals may help the NBA convert a marketing slam-dunk.
After all, the Pistons have led the NBA in attendance during the past two years. Local TV ratings for the Pistons games are up 15% this season. Pistons' postseason merchandise sales are up 11%, up from last year. And the Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 between the Pistons and Miami was the most-watched NBA playoff game in cable history.
http://www.freep.com/money/business/...e_20050610.htm
You could tell the NBA wanted ratings and they knew they wouldn't get them. They even put faux trophies in front of the benches to give it a Finals feel. Stern sucks at interior decor.
So it! Let's not make the Champions the best team in the league....but the team that sells the most jerseys!"They're missing their chance to highlight their most popular players," said Neil Schwartz of SportsScanInfo, which tracks sales of sporting goods at 13,000 stores nationwide
yeah!
Maybe if they sell enough, they can also win that trip to Cancun!
yeah, i wonder which is the bigger tv market? San Antonio or LA?
i did my part...watched every second!
For the first time, the league will also sell so-called locker room T-shirts, which are handed to players after they win conference finals, in team colors. The NBA says the colored shirts, which replaced the black and white ones they normally sell, have had strong sales so far, although it declined to provide numbers.
I'll take a Spurs one, in team colors instead!
And what the was with the plastic ferns set up in front of the pre-game show's table? The place looked like it had been put together by a high school theatre program.
Dirk outsells Tim!?!?!?!?
Is that possible?
I told you they sucked at interior decor. But honestly I found those ferns more entertaining than Walton pre-game.
Lakers & Knicks the TWO LARGEST MARKETS are FISHING! Even if you just played those two teams for bragging rights IT WOULD BE THE MOST BORING THING IN THE WORLD!
NY is busy with their Yankees and their problems. I was thinking the other day maybe the NBA should play the losers of the Conference Finals for 2nd place.
That probably happened in the middle of the pre-game "entertainment".
Your signature hurts me, dude. That still burns.
Fans are sort of dissapointed that it is not a Shaq vs Duncan final. D-wade and Ginobli would have provided a lot of flare and flash to compliment the inside play of Timmy and Shaq, so from a ratings point of view it would have been the better series. However this is the 2 best teams i live in NY and i am loving it to death, ratings will probably be better on sun since it is the weekend but not what they would have been had Miami gotten in.
Sorry.
Sometimes you get the thrill of victory.
Sometimes you get the agony of defeat.
It looks like I'll be able to find a better replacement when this season ends.
Unfortunately for that night, we got a little of both. An impossible shot by Duncan, Fisher ruins it. RUINS IT! That was huge though. Good Morning America worthy.
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) On the one hand, ratings for Game 1 of the NBA Finals took a big hit in the ratings compared to last year.
On the other hand -- which is quite a bit smaller, sort of in the way that some lobsters have one big, scary claw and one tiny one -- the ratings weren't as bad as they were not so long ago.
Game 1, which saw the San Antonio Spurs beat the defending champion Detroit Pistons, 84-69, drew an average of 10.6 million viewers Thursday (June 9) and scored a 4.4 rating among adults 18-49. The latter number helped ABC win the night in the ad-friendly demographic -- the network averaged a 3.4 rating in primetime for its third straight nightly victory.
Still, the contest drew almost 5 million viewers than Game 1 of the 2004 Finals, in which the Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers en route to a five-game win and their first le since 1989. That game drew an audience of 15.36 million, and the series as a whole averaged nearly 18 million viewers, something this year's Finals will almost certainly not match.
To be fair, last year's Finals involved something of a perfect ratings storm. The Pistons' upset of the Lakers had the underdogs toppling a team that featured a lineup of household names (Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone) that hails from the nation's second-biggest media market and is loved and hated nationwide in pretty much equal measure.
One (slightly) hopeful note for ABC is that Thursday's game was an improvement over the last NBA Finals not to include the Lakers. Game 1 of the 2003 series between the Spurs and the New Jersey Nets averaged only 9.6 million viewers in what went on to be the lowest-rated Finals since at least 1986.
Elsewhere Thursday, the 90-minute premiere of "The Cut" on CBS opened to a respectable, 6.6 million viewers. The show, a sort of fashion-world "Apprentice" starring designer Tommy Hilfiger, fared less well among adults 18-49, averaging only a 2.1 rating.
http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve...807|1|,00.html
So, better than the worst ever.
Ok....
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Fast National ratings for Thursday, June 9, 2005
A low-scoring NBA Finals opener by two teams outside the country's big media centers combined to provide only so-so ratings Thursday, allowing CBS to win the night.
CBS averaged a 6.7 rating/12 share in primetime, beating ABC's 5.8/10. NBC finished third at 4.1/7, followed by UPN, 3.3/5. FOX's 2.2/4 was good enough for fifth, edging The WB's 2.0/4 (they finished in a virtual tie in total viewers).
ABC did capture the top spot among adults 18-49 with a 3.4 rating. CBS, 3.0, was second, and NBC took third with a 2.6. UPN averaged 1.8, FOX 1.3 and The WB 1.2.
ABC narrowly won the 8 p.m. hour, averaging 4.7/8 with "My Wife and Kids" and the NBA pregame show -- although, because of the live NBA coverage, those numbers reflect time period only and will change in the final nationals. CBS was right behind with the premiere of the Tommy Hilfiger reality show "The Cut," 4.6/8. An hour of "Joey" posted a 4.1/7 for NBC. "WWE Smackdown!" was fourth at 3.1/6. A repeat of "The O.C." on FOX came in fifth, ahead of two episodes of "Blue Collar TV" on The WB.
"The Cut," 5.5/9, and the start of a 90-minute "CSI," 6.8/11, moved CBS into the lead at 9 p.m. Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons averaged 6.0/11 for ABC. NBC stayed in third with "Hit Me Baby One More Time," which fell from its premiere but still scored a 4.7/8. "Smackdown!" held onto fourth, while a second episode of "The O.C." on FOX scored a 2.3/4. The WB trailed with a repeat of "Beauty and the Geek."
At 10 p.m., "CSI" posted the night's best hourly rating, 9.3/16. ABC's NBA coverage averaged 6.6/12, and an "ER" rerun on NBC came in at 3.5/7.
http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve...759|1|,00.html
"shape the strategy that led to President George W. Bush's successful re-election campaign last year."
oh . The SMALLEST margin of victory for a sitting president in decades.
If there is a serious drop in ratings, the NBA/ABC have no one to blame but themselves. They really do a poor job of hyping the series. It also doesn't help that you have all these media outlets claiming this to be a snoozer of a series. Its really poor marketing in my estimation.
ofcourse not as many people watch the nba this season
it is on cable
idiots
the nba can not afford a lockout with tv ratings down
I certainly think that it will get much, much worse next game since we tasted a bit of this series and most people certainly won't want to be forced again to watch a low 30 pt half from both sides again.
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