The '12 NBA Finals earned a 10.1 rating on ABC over the five-game Heat-Thunder series, down 1% compared to last year’s 10.2 rating over the six-game Mavericks-Heat series. ABC averaged 16.855 million viewers for this year’s Finals series, down around 3% from last year’s 17.339 million average for Mavericks-Heat (John Lombardo, SportsBusiness Journal). In N.Y., Richard Sandomir noted the Thunder “proved emphatically that their small-market status did not hurt viewership” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/23).
REVIEWS ARE IN: Also in N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes, “Don’t know how much ESPN pays for Magic Johnson’s presence, and it doesn’t matter how big a promotional push his presence is given, other than the obvious, he just doesn’t have much to say and takes too long to say it” (N.Y. POST, 6/25). The N.Y. DAILY NEWS’ Bob Raissman wrote ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy “had a fine, if at times whiny, NBA Finals” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/24).
SHIFTING ROLES? THEBIGLEAD.com’s Jason McIntyre cited a source as saying that ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose “is likely going to be added to ESPN’s College Basketball Gameday show" for the '12-13 season. Rose would replace Hubert Davis, who left in May to become an assistant coach at the Univ. of North Carolina. Rose has become “one of ESPN’s most visible NBA analysts.” McIntyre also reported that former Virginia Tech basketball coach Seth Greenberg is “joining ESPN full-time, and an announcement is expected this summer” (THEBIGLEAD.com, 6/21).
