USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand notes nine NBA Playoff games last weekend on ABC, ESPN and TNT "got lower overnight ratings than last years' coverage," due in part to several "lopsided" series. ABC's Heat-Knicks Game Four on Sunday was the only game that "topped last year's ratings." TNT's Lakers-Nuggets Game Four on Sunday drew a 3.4 overnight rating, down 26% from comparable coverage of Lakers-Hornets Game Four last year. Hiestand: "With the Lakers game on ESPN on Friday also down 24% from coverage of a Lakers game last year, is the drawing power of this marquee team slipping?" (USA TODAY, 5/8).
TENNIS, ANYONE? MULTICHANNEL NEWS' John Eggerton cited a source as saying that FCC Chair Julius Genachowski "is proposing that the agency stay enforcement of the Tennis Channel program carriage-complaint against Comcast so the commissioners can put some fresh eyes on it given it's the first such finding." Genachowski "has issues with the decision, and his proposed order says the stay will allow that re-examination of the record while 'avoiding potential disruption to consumers and third-party programmers in the event that the commission subsequently reverses or modifies the (administrative law judge's) remedy'" (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 5/7 issue).
REWARDS PROGRAM: Kwarter a S.F.-based mobile application developer, has created the FanCake Rewards Program, a loyalty effort in which users receive tickets, merchandise, and other tangible rewards for users of its FanCake sports-oriented social app. Users receive FanCake credits by checking into games through the free app for Apple's iOS platform, participating in prediction contests, commenting and other activity through the app. Kwarter has partnered with Fanatics.com, Oracle Arena, the O.Co Coliseum, ScoreBig, and Total Hockey, among others, to supply prizes for active users. Sample prizes include gift cards, discounts and credits for tickets and licensed apparel, and T-shirts (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal).
