NBC's coverage of Sunday's Bulls-Pacers game drew a 13.4
rating and a 34 share, making it the highest rated regular-season
NBC game since a Knicks-Celtics game in '73. And, when national
ratings come in this week, the network predicts that the game
will be the "third or fourth-highest-rated NBA game ever"
(Richard Huff, N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/21). The highest rated NBA
regular-season game remains the Bucks-Lakers in '72, which got a
14.7 on ABC (John Carmody, WASHINGTON POST, 3/21). In New York,
Richard Sandomir writes that Michael Jordan could have returned
on TNT last Friday, but TNT has many fewer viewers than NBC.
Yeah, he needed two more days to hone his 7-28 shooting" (N.Y.
TIMES, 3/21). In Baltimore, Milton Kent notes, "Those are actual
cheers and huzzahs you hear coming from 30 Rockefeller Plaza in
New York, as NBC officials dance a jig over the return of Michael
Jordan to the NBA" (Baltimore SUN, 3/21). Rudy Martzke notes the
effect Jordan's return had on CBS' NCAA hoops ratings. Already
down 7% for the first round (6.5) and down 11% for Saturday's
triple-header (5.9), Sunday's games fell 27% to a 5.6 (USA TODAY,
3/21).
