NBC's NBA playoff Nielsen ratings are averaging a
4.6/14 rating through six games, down 16% from last year's
5.5/15 for five games (NBC). In Atlanta, Prentis Rogers
writes that Turner's NBA playoff ratings are down 12% and,
noting NBC's decline as well, suggests that "interest has
yet to spread beyond the core group of loyal viewers."
Turner Sports Senior VP Kevin O'Malley: "If we were down 35
percent, then that would be something to be alarmed about.
But to be down 10, 12 or 14 percent at this stage is not a
big deal." Game Three of the Jazz-Kings series was Turner's
highest-rated game at 3.4, while Game Two was second at 3.1.
Rogers notes that Game Three rating was "particularly
impressive for a game that didn't start until" 10:30pm.
O'Malley: "Who would have guessed that games involving the
Kings would be at the top?" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 5/14).
A RATINGS RECORD: USA Network's broadcast of WWF last
Monday, which faced competition from the NBA playoffs on
Turner, "drew the largest audience in the history of ad-
supported basic cable." The 9:00-11:00pm ET block of "WWF
Raw" and "WWF War Zone" earned an 8.1 rating, or 6.1 million
homes, based upon USA's universe (AD AGE, 5/13).
LOCAL SCORE: In Detroit, Steve Crowe writes that Game
One of the Pistons-Hawks series on WKBD-UPN scored a local
Nielsen rating of a 5.3, while Game Two received a 5.4.
However, ratings for Game Three, with the Pistons facing
elimination, rose to an 8.3 (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 5/14)....In
Houston, David Barron reports that Sunday's Game One of the
Rockets-Lakers series earned a 20.2/36 on KPRC-NBC and
Tuesday's Game Two received an 11.9/21 local Nielsen rating
for KHTV-WB (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 5/14).