NBC's coverage of Game Four of the Lakers-Pacers NBA
Finals last night earned a 14.8/25 preliminary overnight
Nielsen rating, up 18% last year's 12.5/21 for Spurs-Knicks
Game Four, which was played on a Wednesday. Last night's
Game Four earned a 31.4/48 overnight in the L.A. market and
a 46.6/66 in Indianapolis (THE DAILY).
THE MEDIA PLAYERS: In L.A., Greg Johnson reported on
the NBA's new media initiatives under the header, "NBA
Courting New Media: The League And Tech-Savvy Players Hope
To Be Part Of The Team As Online Ventures Attract Revenue
And Young Fans." Johnson: "Credit the multimedia army to
NBA Commissioner David J. Stern's bold, $10-million bet on
NBA.com TV, a 24-hour television channel that forms the
foundation of professional basketball's interactive
business." Johnson wrote that Stern is "betting that, as
online technologies mature, the league's interactive
platform will evolve into a powerful engine. He envisions
business-to-consumer sales points, as well as the
opportunity to license NBA content to online partners" (L.A.
TIMES, 6/14). In Orange County, Marcia Smith profiled NBAE
Exec VP/Global Media Properties and Marketing Partnerships
Heidi Ueberroth, calling her a "veritable Johnny Appleseed
.. selling the world on the NBA." Smith: "The highest-
ranking female executive among the four major pro sports
leagues, Ueberroth is tall, fit, fluent in French, great
with a punch line and knows how to handle a basketball -- in
200 countries. She comes off more smart than smooth, worldly
without being elitist, genuine instead of garish -- all of
which makes her an understated power broker in a
multibillion-dollar league renowned for stretch limos,
stretch-Armanis and stretch egos" (O.C. REGISTER, 6/14).
O'BABY, MORE POSITIVE SHAQ PUB: Meanwhile, TIME's
Farley & Thigpen profile Lakers C Shaquille O'Neal and write
that O'Neal has "dominated basketball like no other player
since [Michael] Jordan. It's a wonder the league hasn't
been renamed the O'NBA" (TIME, 6/19 issue). But CBS' David
Letterman has his own heir to the NBA throne: "When Michael
Jordan retired, everybody said, 'Who is going to be the next
marquee player in the NBA? Who will carry not only the
franchise but the league? Who is going to keep fan interest
at an all-time high?' Well, [Pacers C] Rik Smits has
stepped forward and he has filled those shoes without a
doubt. No question, the most exciting player in all of
basketball today, Rik Smits" ("Late Show," CBS, 6/14).
