The NBA and NHL playoffs dominated this past weekend's TV sports coverage. USA TODAY reports that Fox's NHL regional action on Sunday averaged a 2.3, down 8% from '97, while ESPN's ratings fell 38% to a .5 and ESPN2's "tumbled" 29%, also to .5, for the first three nights of the playoffs (USA TODAY, 4/28). In DC, Leonard Shapiro examines Fox's coverage of Sunday's Capitals-Bruins game under the header, "Upon Further Review, Fox, NHL, Got It Right." Shapiro writes that "for the most part, Fox provided an ... outstanding broadcast, particularly on the production end." He adds that viewers "were shown fabulous camera angles and replays galore," and notes that Fox's "ability to put microphones all over ... enhanced the coverage" (WASHINGTON POST, 4/28). In Boston, Jim Greenidge reports that Sunday's Caps-Bruins game earned Fox's best-ever numbers in that market, posting an 8.2/17. The rating peaked at 9.1 during the second overtime (Jim Greenidge, BOSTON GLOBE, 4/28). NBA ACTION: USA TODAY's reports that NBC's weekend playoff ratings dipped 6% to a 6.7. While Sunday's rating was "about even" with the '97 number, Saturday's number dropped 12%. TNT's Thursday/Friday NBA coverage jumped 21% from '97, to a 2.3 from 1.9 (USA TODAY, 4/28). In Houston, David Barron writes that TNT's 2.9 rating for Rockets-Jazz Game One on Thursday is its highest number so far. Saturday's Game Two of the Rockets-Jazz earned an 11.7/22 local rating on Houston's KHTV (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 4/28). In N.Y., Richard Sandomir reviews NBC's pairing of Doug Collins and Isiah Thomas on its No. 1 NBA broadcast team, calling it "flawed." Thomas, writes Sandomir, "has improved since his awkward start ... [b]ut [he] is not a No. 1 analyst, and no one should have expected him to be." Noting that Collins was hired "because he became the best NBA analyst" at TNT, Sandomir asks, "Why hire the best only to make him split time with a rookie?" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/28). CATCH AIR: Turner Sports will unveil the new SporTVision System technology, which measures a player's vertical leap, during tonight's Heat-Knicks broadcast from MSG. Turner will also use the measuring system, known as AIRf/x, on tomorrow's Nets-Bulls game (SporTVision).
