NBC's cumulative average Nielsen rating for the five
game Knicks-Spurs NBA Finals was an 11.3/21, down 37% from
last year's five-game average of an 18.0/32. This year's
ratings are down 40% from last year's six-game total average
of an 18.7/33. Friday's Game Five pulled an 11.0/22 final
Nielsen rating, 44% below last year's 19.8/37. In San
Antonio, the game earned a 51.6/72, while in N.Y. it earned
a 20.2/34 (NBC). In N.Y., Don Kaplan writes the average
viewership for the series was "about" 16 million viewers,
compared to last year's 29 million (N.Y. POST, 6/29).
PUTTING IN PERSPECTIVE: The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's
Stephen Battaglio writes the series was the lowest rated NBA
Finals since '81, "when not all of the games aired in
primetime." That Rockets-Celtics series averaged a 6.7,
with some games airing on weekend afternoons. NBC Sports
VP/Press Information Ed Markey said that "the length of the
finals and conference finals -- 15 games -- will enable NBC
to break even on the broadcasts" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 6/29).
In Houston, David Barron writes NBC "expected about a" 35%
drop from last year's record-breaking series, but this
year's series "even failed to match" the '94 Rockets-Knicks
series, which earned an 11.4/21 in five games, with a final
seven-game average of a 12.4/23 (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/29).
USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand writes "the NBA season started
with a dud and ended with a thud." Media Buyer Paul
Schulman: "And it's going to stay this way unless Michael
Jordan comes back (with) the Lakers. This was ugly, out-of-
control basketball." MediaCom's Jon Mandel says the NBA "has
been losing its fan base" and has "become too corporate":
"The good news for the Finals is that it's one of the few
shows still in double-digit ratings. The bad news is that
it's a shadow of its former [self]" (USA TODAY, 6/29).
NOT ALL SINGING THE BLUES: In San Antonio, Jeanne Jakle
writes that Game Five's 51.6/72 local rating "was the
largest local TV turnout ever recorded for a sporting event,
or for that matter, any event" (S.A. EXPRESS-NEWS, 6/29).
