In L.A., Paresh Dave cites Nielsen data as showing that "about 1.1 million people posted more than 4.5 million messages on Twitter" about Lakers G Kobe Bryant's final game Wednesday night. Bryant's retirement game "topped the final game" of former MLBer Derek Jeter in '14. Bryant was "mentioned 4.2 million times on Twitter" Wednesday night; Jeter "received 1.3 million mentions when he retired." Twitter chatter about the Jazz-Lakers, which aired nationally on ESPN2, "easily topped the ESPN broadcast of what had been presumed to be the night's marquee matchup," Grizzlies-Warriors. The Warriors won their 73rd game of the year, setting an NBA record, but the game "generated just 625,000 tweets from about 311,000 users" (L.A. TIMES, 4/15).
WALL-TO-WALL COVERAGE: GOLF DIGEST's Alex Myers noted the "first and second rounds" of the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh on June 16-17 will air on FS1 from 10:00am-5:00pm ET and on Fox from 5:00-8:00pm. Fox will have coverage on Saturday from 11:00am-7:00pm and on Sunday from 11:00am-7:30pm. That is "a total of 36 and a half hours of live TV coverage" (GOLFDIGEST.com, 4/14).
VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR? In Houston, David Barron notes local sports radio audiences are "mostly down from a year ago." Whether it is a "relative lack of interest in the NFL Draft or the Rockets’ fall from intriguing to blindingly mundane, there’s not much upbeat to say about the audience levels for the four English-language all-sports stations." One of them, KGOW-AM, "failed to draw a measurable audience in the March ratings book from Nielsen Audio" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 4/15).
