Turner earned a 5.5 overnight rating last night for the West's 163-158 win over the East in the NBA All-Star Game across TNT and TBS, which simulcast the contest. Last year's game garnered a 4.9 overnight and was only carried on TNT. The game generated an 8.8 local rating in N.Y., its highest ever for an NBA All-Star Game on a Turner network. Last night's game aired up against stiff competition from NBC's "SNL" 40th Anniversary show, which earned a 14.2 overnight, as well as an original episode of AMC's "The Walking Dead." Meanwhile, TNT's coverage of NBA All-Star Saturday Night drew a 4.4 overnight rating, the second-highest in the event's history. It is up 14% from last year. The event drew a 7.2 local rating in host city N.Y., the highest for the market on record and up 36% from a year ago. The telecast peaked with a 5.3 from 10:45pm-11:00pm ET during the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. NBA All-Star Saturday Night also garnered an 86% increase in live streams over '14 (THE DAILY).
A WELCOMED SITE: TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager made a surprise appearance during the net’s broadcast of last night’s NBA All-Star Game and said that he hopes to return to the network full-time as early as next month. Sager appeared via satellite from Florida to interview Knicks F Carmelo Anthony, his first appearance on TV since his battle with leukemia last spring. He said he hopes to come back “around March 1st if everything goes well these next two weeks.” Sager: “I think I’m on my road back, and I think I’m looking forward to getting healthy and being there in March and April. I’m looking forward to the playoffs” (“NBA Tip-Off,” TNT, 2/15). In N.Y., Jonathan Lehman notes Sager's "interview skills showed little evidence of rust," as he asked Anthony about the "condition of his ailing knee and the deplorable state" of the Knicks (N.Y. POST, 2/16).
CHUCK WAGON: In Denver, Christopher Dempsey wrote analyst Charles Barkley "knows his role on TNT: Spew out a few nails-on-the-chalkboard opinions on whatever, crack a joke, then exit stage left to applause and laughter. No one is better at it." Dempsey: "But we should not participate. ... Essentially, he's just a lovable panda up there. No one gives credence to what a panda does. This is kind of like that." But it "all sure is entertaining" (DENVER POST, 2/15). Meanwhile, Barkley said that he plans to have his right hip "replaced this summer." Barkley: "It's been bugging me for a while, but I finally went to the doctor and he said you need a new hip, so I'm going to do it" (NEWSDAY, 2/14).
DUNK YOU VERY MUCH: The NBA said it set a new league social media record during All-Star Saturday Night with more than 50 million combined video views in a 24-hour period on the @NBA, @NBATV and @NBAonTNT accounts on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Vine. T'Wolves G and Slam Dunk champion Zach LaVine gained more than 1 million mentions on Twitter, most for any one player in the history of NBA All-Star Saturday Night (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer).
