Menu
Media

ESPN Earns Most Viewers For NBA Draft Since It Began Airing Event In '03

ESPN drew 3.202 million viewers for Thursday's NBA Draft from 7:30pm-12:15am ET, marking the largest audience since ESPN began televising the draft in '03 and best on any net since since TNT averaged 3.329 million viewers in '96. This year's viewership mark was also up 14.8% from 2.789 million viewers last year (THE DAILY). SI.com's Richard Deitsch offered the "television draft highs and the lows" for ESPN's coverage of the Draft, and wrote analyst Jay Bilas "provided deep and detailed knowledge on every first-round pick." Deitsch: "Throughout the night, Bilas gave you a scouting report that broke down someone's game and offered a projection heading forward." Also, analyst Fran Fraschilla was "invaluable during the coverage given his international connections and first-hand observations of the international players he scouted." However, the "byplay between" analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Jon Barry was "painful." Barry "tried to make fun of Van Gundy throughout the night and Van Gundy's reaction was if he had seen an apparition." The "lack of chemistry made viewers long for Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith." Deitsch also wrote "not addressing that NBA commissioner David Stern was booed at the start of the draft, during the draft, and before the final pick of the opening round was weak given the labor unrest among other issues" (SI.com, 6/24). In Indianapolis, Bob Kravitz included ESPN reporter Mark Jones among his losers on draft night. Jones, whose "only job was to ask the top draftees one or two questions, was an embarrassing flop." He had "months to prepare one or two thoughtful questions of 15 or so prospects, and yet, each interview was more insipid than the last" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 6/26).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2011/06/27/Media/NBA-Draft.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2011/06/27/Media/NBA-Draft.aspx

CLOSE