NBC's telecast of Game Four of the NBA Finals earned a
12.0/22 national Nielsen rating, down 37% from last year's
19.1/33. In San Antonio, the game pulled a 53.6/68, while
in N.Y., it posted a 22.6/37. NBC's four-game cumulative
average for the Finals is now an 11.3/21, down 35% from last
year's 17.5/31 (NBC). DAILY VARIETY's Tom Bierbaum writes
NBC "now needs the ratings surge of at least one more Knicks
victory if it's to have any chance of avoiding the lowest
overall finals average" since '81 (DAILY VARIETY, 6/25). In
Toronto, Chris Zelkovich reports that the first three Finals
games have drawn an average of "only 279,000 viewers, down"
66% from last year's 706,000 (TORONTO STAR, 6/25). In L.A.,
Tom Hoffarth: "Bottom line is that these all-too-coveted
ratings have been better than anything else on TV right now
as rerun summer begins. ... Besides, who can accurately
analyze any part of this aborted NBA season anyhow?" (L.A.
DAILY NEWS, 6/25). In Chicago, Lacy Banks: "TV ratings are
down. Play was often awful this season, right through the
playoffs. ... But to have the likes of Duncan, Robinson,
Kerr, Perdue and the rest of the Spurs serving as the
league's new standard-bearers would ensure the image of the
league will remain in good hands" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 6/25).
THE HIPPY, HIPPY SHAKE-DOWN: Knicks F Larry Johnson,
after hearing that NBC analyst Bill Walton called his
performance in Game Four "pathetic" and labeled Johnson a
"sad human being": "That's not the same Bill Walton who was
at UCLA smoking pot and a hippie, was it?" Walton, in
response: "When you're 6-11 and have red hair and you're a
goofy, nerdy-looking guy with a big nose and a speech
impediment, you've heard a lot worse than that" (N.Y. POST,
6/25). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Daniel Henninger writes on
NBC's announcing talent for the Finals: "Is it really
possible that neither [NBC Sports Chair] Dick Ebersol nor
anyone else at NBC realizes that these guys are ruining the
game they paid millions to broadcast?" (WS JOURNAL, 6/25).
NBAE PROFILED: USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand profiles
NBAE and notes that it launched in '82 and includes 200
staffers and free-lancers. It is a "giant promotional
vacuum with access to go anywhere for sights and sounds that
might burnish the league's image or prove somehow
marketable." NBAE's archives hold "about" 2.2 million still
photos and 500,000 videotapes and its spinoff products
"produce about" $100M in annual revenues (USA TODAY, 6/25).
