NBC's telecast of Friday's Game Five of the NBA Finals
pulled an 11.9/22 overnight Nielsen rating, down 43% from
last year's 20.7/36 (NBC). A N.Y. TIMES editorial today
states that NBA Finals ratings "were down, probably because
Michael Jordan was not around and because the viewers
decided this was a mismatch. Too bad for the viewers. They
missed the formal certification of Tim Duncan as a true
superstar. ... Above all they missed the magical, real-time
evolution of the Knicks" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/28).
A WAR OF WORDS: In Boston, Howard Manly wrote that NBC
analyst Bill Walton calling Knicks F Larry Johnson "a sad
human being" and "a disgrace ... goes beyond analysis to
outright slander. Even in sports journalism there are
parameters. ... Walton clearly overstepped his bounds"
(BOSTON GLOBE, 6/27). In Houston, David Barron reports that
the MSG crowd "was vocal" during NBC's halftime show inside
the arena on Friday. The show featured the four announcers
using hand-held microphones, but "the catcalls and jeers
directed at Walton were clearly audible to the NBC
audience." "Showtime" host Hannah Storm: "It was to the
point where we had trouble hearing each other and hearing
ourselves think" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/28).