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Media Notes

ABC is averaging 18.03 million viewers through Game 5 of the NBA Finals, down 7% from 19.28 million viewers through the same point of the Warriors-Cavaliers series last year. Despite the drop, this year's series is on pace to be the second-best NBA Finals audience on record for ABC -- behind only '15 -- since ESPN acquired NBA media rights prior to the '02-03 season. This year's audience through Game 5 also is up 16% from Spurs-Heat in '14, which was a five-game series. Cavs-Warriors Game 5 on Monday night finished with 20.53 million viewers, down 2% from the same game last year, which drew 20.86 million viewers on a Sunday night. The series-clinching Spurs-Heat Game 5 in '14 drew 17.88 million viewers on a Sunday (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).

TAKING THEIR SHOT: Take-Two Chair & CEO Strauss Zelnick noted the company recently launched its "first in-game tournament with 'NBA2K'" and in which more than 100,000 teams played "over 2 million matches for a $250,000 prize." Zelnick said, "We live streamed it on Twitch. ... We think there's great opportunity." E-sports is not yet a "revenue generator" for the company, but he said, "The opportunity is great though" ("Closing Bell," CNBC, 6/14).

BEACH BODIES: NBC today announced that Al Michaels "will host NBC's daytime coverage" of the Rio Games from the net's studio on Copacabana Beach. This will be Michaels' "fourth straight Olympics for NBC, all with similar roles." The net also announced that Dan Patrick and Rebecca Lowe will serve as "hosts for coverage on NBC and NBCSN." This is Patrick's "fourth Olympics for NBC," and it marks the "second time for Lowe" (AP, 6/15). NBC yesterday also announced that its daytime and late-night studio on Copacabana Beach will feature an indoor and an outdoor set, main anchor desk, interview area and news update desk, all positioned with the intent to capture panoramic views. This will mark the first time since the '92 Barcelona Games that NBC Olympics will have a major studio outside the Int'l Broadcast Center (NBC).

HEAVY HITTER: U.S. volleyball player Kelsey Robinson "will be consistently writing guest articles for SportTechie" during the Rio Games. She will be "sharing how technology is impacting her preparation, training, recovery and overall experience as an elite athlete at the Olympics" (SPORTTECHIE.com, 6/13).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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