The Nets-Knicks game last night earned a 7.3 local rating on MSG Network, making it the most-watched Knicks telecast ever on the net. The previous high was set on March 28, 1995, the game Michael Jordan scored 55 points in his first appearance at MSG following his first retirement from the Bulls. Nets-Knicks also tops the 6.8 rating that MSG earned for Carmelo Anthony's debut with the Knicks last season. Last night's MSG telecast marks the seventh consecutive ratings increase for a Knicks game on the net this season. The game was the second Knicks broadcast on MSG since its carriage dispute with Time Warner Cable was settled late Friday afternoon; the first game was at 8:00pm ET Friday. The Nets-Knicks game also earned a 1.5 local rating on YES Network, marking the most-watched Nets game on the network since a game against the Celtics on Jan. 11, 2008 (THE DAILY). Meanwhile, ESPN’s J.A. Adande said of the Knicks' win over the Mavericks on Sunday, “That game did a five rating, which is one of the better ratings that ABC has had for a regular-season game. So clearly the Jeremy Lin phenomenon is taking place” (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 2/20).
INTERNATIONAL DILEMMA: The GLOBE & MAIL's Mark MacKinnon writes under the header, "Linsanity Spreading Through Asia." MacKinnon notes China's "state-run CCTV television network, which has a national monopoly on NBA games, has thus far refrained from adding extra Knicks broadcasts to its schedule" during Lin's star turn. The net "blames time differences, but some basketball fans here suspect the real block is the prospect of Lin talking Jesus while the crowd waves Taiwanese flags." MacKinnon notes, "Politics aside, Linsanity continues to spread unabated" (GLOBE & MAIL, 2/21). THE ECONOMIST noted CCTV "has not joined in Linsanity." Last week's Knicks-T'Wolves game "was broadcast on Beijing TV’s sport channel, but the broadcast included the forbidden image of the Taiwanese national flag, held proudly by fans in the stands." The flag is "typically blurred in China if it must appear in news footage." Chinese "netizens noticed, and wondered if that would bring a punishment, or a tape delay." CCTV, for its part, told Chinese internet portal Netease that "most Knicks games couldn’t be shown due to the 'time difference,'" but if time allows, "games of the Knicks will definitely be broadcasted preferentially" (ECONOMIST.com, 2/20).
