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Put a number on
NBA's broadcast days
So it seems, with fewer games and low ratings
By Toni Fitzgerald
The NBA tips off the season this week on ESPN and TNT. It will be
almost two months before any games reach broadcast television, where regular-season games
averaged an all-time low last year.
But with ESPN and TNT both recording regular-season and postseason ratings
increases last year, it seems to beg the question: Does the NBA have a future on
broadcast? Or is the once-mighty sport better off becoming more of a cable exclusive?
Nothing like that will happen for at least four more years, when ABC’s
current deal runs out. But it’s an interesting question to ponder, especially if
regular-season viewing for ABC continues to dip at a rapid pace.
Basketball’s broadcast expiration began long before ABC acquired NBA
rights two years ago, but it has sped up since then. Last year featured the second-fewest
regular-season NBA broadcasts since 1989-’90, 16, and they averaged a record-low 2.2
household rating.
That was down 14 percent from the average rating from
the previous season, when ABC showed only 12
broadcasts, and down 24 percent from 2001-’02's average rating, when NBC showed 31 games.
Regular-season broadcast ratings have decreased or remained level every year
since 1994-’95, when they averaged a 5.0. The league has half the average viewers it
did back then, just after Michael Jordan’s first retirement.
Although last season’s NBA finals rebounded from the previous
year’s record-low average, they were still the third-lowest-rated in history,
averaging an 11.5 rating.
But on cable it was a different story. ESPN, ESPN2 and TNT all posted
year-to-year increases in their regular-season household averages, with TNT and ESPN both
averaging better than a 1.1.
Equally important, all three increased year-to-year in the NBA’s target
demo of men 18-49, where ABC’s broadcasts were down nearly 15 percent. Several
playoff games on TNT were also among the most-viewed basketball games in cable history.
ABC still averages a higher household rating than the cablers for the games,
but not by all that much.
But no matter where the games air, there is another serious problem facing
the NBA. And ABC can’t do anything about this one.
The league suffers from a serious image problem. The squad of NBA all-stars
representing the U.S. in the Olympics barely captured bronze, Kobe Bryant’s rape
trial began and ended under bizarre circumstances, and Kobe and former teammate Shaquille
O’Neal did their best Bush-Kerry imitation in a war of ugly words. Most recently
Carmelo Anthony, last year’s co-rookie of the year, was busted for marijuana
possession last month.
With all that bad publicity and a dull defending champ in
defensive-focused Detroit, will regular-season basketball stop its nine-season decline on
broadcast television?
It seems doubtful. Matching last year’s cable numbers and preventing
another decline on ABC would be a relative victory for the NBA. More ratings slides would
be yet another embarrassment the league doesn’t want to deal with right now.
In other sports ratings, NBC’s coverage of the Subway 500 last weekend
averaged a 4.4 household rating, up 10 percent versus last year’s 4.0. The average
rating for the network’s Chase for the Cup races has increased 4 percent compared
with last year to a 4.7.
NETWORK SPORTS
Ranked on Households
Week Ending Oct. 24 |
| # |
PROGRAMS |
Net |
Episode |
Households |
Persons
2+ |
US
Rtg% |
Shr |
(000) |
(000) |
1 |
FOX MLB
ALCS GAME
7(S)-10/20 |
FOX |
BSTON
AT YANKS |
19.4 |
30 |
21277 |
31460 |
2 |
FOX WORLD
SERIES GAME
2(S)-10/24 |
FOX |
ST
LO. AT
BSTON |
15.9 |
24 |
17390 |
25463 |
3 |
FOX MLB
ALCS GAME
6(S)-10/19 |
FOX |
BSTON
AT YANKS |
15.6 |
25 |
17150 |
25088 |
4 |
FOX WRLD
SERIES GAME
1(S)-10/23 |
FOX |
ST
LO. AT
BSTON |
13.7 |
25 |
15029 |
23168 |
5 |
FOX NFL
SUN.-NAT |
FOX |
VAR.
TEAMS
AND TIMES |
13.5 |
25 |
14784 |
20548 |
6 |
FOX MLB
NLCS GAME
7(S)-10/21 |
FOX |
HSTON
AT ST LO |
13.0 |
20 |
14285 |
19808 |
7 |
FOX MLB
ALCS GAME
5(S)-10/18 |
FOX |
YANKS
AT
BSTON |
11.3 |
19 |
12353 |
17798 |
8 |
FOX MLB
NLCS GAME
5(S)-10/18 |
FOX |
ST
LO. AT
HSTON |
9.8 |
17 |
10791 |
14982 |
9 |
CBS NFL
SINGLE |
CBS |
VAR.
TEAMS
AND TIMES |
9.7 |
22 |
10677 |
15171 |
10 |
NFL MON.
NIGHT FTBLL |
ABC |
TAMPA
AT ST. LO |
7.7 |
13 |
8427 |
11506 |
11 |
FOX NFL
SUN REG |
FOX |
VAR.
TEAMS
AND TIMES |
7.2 |
16 |
7933 |
10579 |
12 |
FOX MLB
NLCS
GAME 6
(S)-10/20 |
FOX |
HSTON
AT ST LO |
7.0 |
15 |
7712 |
10255 |
13 |
O.D.
MRTNSVLE
(S)10/24 |
NBC |
NSCAR:
NEXTEL |
4.4 |
10 |
4811 |
6820 |
14 |
ABC CLLG
FTBL
GM-LATE |
ABC |
VAR.
TEAMS
AND TIMES |
4.2 |
10 |
4567 |
5911 |
15 |
WWE
SMCKDWN! |
UPN |
|
3.2 |
5 |
3462 |
4577 |
16 |
HOME DEPOT
CLLG FTBLL2 |
CBS |
ALA.
AT
TENN |
2.6 |
6 |
2843 |
3774 |
17 |
NOTRE DAME
FTBALL |
NBC |
BC
AT
ND |
2.1 |
5 |
2256 |
2827 |
18 |
NBC SPORTS
SPEC 10/24(S) |
NBC |
US
OPEN
SUPER
CROSS |
1.8 |
4 |
2020 |
2958 |
19 |
SKATE AMER.
10/24(S) |
ABC |
|
1.5 |
4 |
1638 |
2137 |
20 |
CBS SPORTS
SPECT.-SU |
CBS |
ARETE
HONORS |
1.5 |
3 |
1655 |
2109 |
21 |
FUNAI CLASSIC
AT WDW(S)-10/24 |
ABC |
|
1.2 |
3 |
1295 |
1532 |
| Source:
Nielsen Media Research |
|
Nov. 1, 2004
© 2004 Media Life
- Toni Fitzgerald is a staff
writer for Media Life.
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