The Warriors are "making a splash" in TV ratings, as their three highest-rated regular-season games in CSN Bay Area history "are all from this season, driving an overall 16 percent spike in viewership over last season," according to Daniel Brown of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. The Warriors' season-to-date average of a 3.76 rating "is comparable" to the numbers the RSN got for the MLB Giants last year (4.08). CSN Bay Area President & GM Ted Griggs said, "I think a lot of it is the cool factor. This is probably, win or lose, the most entertaining team in the NBA." Griggs: "It takes a while for a team to hit critical mass, but once they do it's sort of like a tidal wave and it picks up more and more. It becomes part of the larger Bay Area culture where everybody is talking about it and therefore everybody wants to watch it." Brown noted the "high-water mark" came when the Warriors beat the Rockets on Dec. 10 "for their 14th consecutive victory." That earned a 6.43 rating to top the RSN's "previous regular-season Warriors best -- a 5.73 rating" for a game against the Lakers on March 24, 2008. Griggs said that the recent viewership boost "comes largely from women." Regular-season Warriors ratings "among females aged 25-54 is up" 49% from a year ago. The highest-rated Warriors game ever on CSN Bay Area "was May 1 for Game 6 of their playoff series" against the Clippers and got a 7.03 rating. Griggs "suspects that record could fall if the Warriors continue rolling" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 1/13).
