The following lists final national and cable Nielsen
ratings from recent sports events (THE DAILY).
EVENT DATE NET TIME RAT/SHR
IRL: Vegas Indy 300 4/22 ABC 3:30-6:00pm 1.3/4
PGA: Grtr Greensboro -- 3rd Rd. 4/22 CBS 4:00-6:00pm 2.1/6
WTA: Family Circle Cup -- Semis 4/22 Fox 4:30-6:00pm 0.9/3
"NBA On NBC": (Pistons-Heat) 4/22 NBC 12:30-3:15pm 3.8/10
"NBA On NBC": (Suns-Spurs) 4/22 NBC 3:15-5:30pm 3.6/10
"NBA On NBC": (Sonics-Jazz) 4/22 NBC 5:30-8:00pm 4.0/10
NHL Playoffs: (Blues-Sharks) 4/23 ABC 3:00-6:00pm 1.4/4
NCAA Women's Gymnastics Chpshp. 4/23 CBS 1:00-3:00pm 1.4/4
PGA: Grtr Greensboro -- 4th Rd. 4/23 CBS 3:00-6:00pm 2.3/7
WTA: Family Circle Cup -- Finals 4/23 Fox 4:00-6:00pm 0.9/3
"NBA On NBC": (Raptors-Knicks) 4/23 NBC 12:30-3:15pm 4.7/15
"NBA On NBC": (T'Wolves-Blazers) 4/23 NBC 3:15-5:45pm 5.3/15
"NBA On NBC": (Kings-Lakers) 4/23 NBC 5:45-8:00pm 6.2/15
US COV
EVENT DATE NET AREA AREA SHR 000
Skating: Champions On Ice 4/12 TNT 1.4 1.8 3 1368
"NBA On TNT" (Kings-Lakers) 4/14 TNT 1.1 1.4 3 1096
NFL Draft 4/15 ESPN 2.4 3.2 8 2441
BGN: Touchstone Energy 300 4/15 ESPN2 1.1 1.6 4 1071
NFL Draft 4/16 ESPN 1.3 1.6 5 1265
NBA: In Atlanta, Prentis Rogers reports that through
Wednesday, Turner's NBA playoff ratings were up 5%, to a
2.1, but NBC's six-game average of a 4.5 was down 2%
"primarily because" Saturday's tripleheader was down 12%
overall. Rogers: "Now, NBC will learn if waiting a week to
televise six Game 3s is viewer-friendly. The expectations
are not high" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 4/28). In L.A., Larry
Stewart criticizes the NBA's "slow-paced playoff schedule."
Stewart: "Eight days to play three games -- that's not good.
It's hard to maintain a daily buzz" (L.A. TIMES, 4/28). In
Miami, Barry Jackson: "Governments have been overthrown,
billion-dollar transactions have been completed, and the
world's highest mountains have been scaled in less time than
it's taking to play these best-of-5 first-round NBA playoff
series. ... But it's hardly the first time leagues have
altered their playoff schedules in deference to the
networks. And in truth, the influence of television was
more offensive during the NHL and baseball playoffs" (MIAMI
HERALD, 4/28). In AZ, Jim Gintonio: "At first it seemed
like a basketball junkie's dream: Every [Suns] game of the
first round of the NBA playoffs on TNT. ... But now, after
only two games into the Suns-Spurs series -- which seems to
have been going on for a month -- I'm raising the white
flag. Let's hope TNT considers this an experiment gone bad,
like turning Dr. J into Dr. Frankenstein. It just doesn't
work" (AZ REPUBLIC, 4/28)....Meanwhile, Game Two of the
first-round NBA Raptors-Knicks playoff series Wednesday
generated a 7.27 rating (499,812 HHs) on MSG, marking the
highest-rated first-round playoff game ever on MSG and the
net's fifth-highest rated Knicks playoff game ever (MSG).
NHL: USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke reports that after two
weeks of the NHL playoffs, ABC's 1.5 rating is up 25% over
last year's 1.2 on Fox (USA TODAY, 4/28). In CA, Bob
Keisser reports that ABC's "spin doctors have been
proclaiming a major victory" in the net's NHL coverage "on
the strength of improved demographic ratings," showing a 70%
gain in the male 18-34 demo for all of its Disney units.
But ABC's overall final-season average, a "meager" 1.3 for
its four games, was "an all-time low." Keisser notes that
as a "lame duck" broadcaster last year, Fox had a 1.4
rating, down from a 1.9 in '98 (L.B. PRESS-TELEGRAM, 4/28).
In Toronto, William Houston writes that CBC's "Hockey Night
in Canada" posted its "top playoff audience" since '95 with
a season record 2.919 million viewers for the Maple Leafs-
Senators Game Six. Overall, "HNIC"'s playoff audience is
averaging 1.6 million viewers per game, up 10% from last
year and 53% from '98 (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 4/28).
For broadcast numbers, one ratings point = 1,008,000
homes. For cable, "COV AREA" = % of homes tuned in to that
program in that network's universe of subscribers.
