TNT Continues Double-Digit NBA Playoff Gains; ESPN Closer To Even
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TNT Averaging Four Million Viewers For NBA
Playoff Games Through Sunday, Up 11% |
TNT is averaging a 3.1 cable rating (4.0 million viewers) for 37 telecasts of the NBA Playoffs through the Conference Semifinals, up 10.7% from a 2.8 rating (3.5 million viewers for 36 games) through the same point last year. The net's 13 telecasts of the Conference Semifinals averaged a 3.9 cable rating (5.1 million viewers), up 14.7% from a 3.4 rating (4.2 million viewers) for 14 telecasts last season. ESPN also saw gains for Conference Semifinals coverage, averaging a 3.5 cable rating (4.6 million viewers) for six telecasts, up 9.4% from a 3.2 rating (4.0 million viewers) for seven telecasts last season. ESPN's 14 playoff telecasts through this Sunday have averaged a 2.7 cable rating (3.4 million viewers), down slightly from a 2.8 rating (3.4 million viewers) for 16 telecasts through the same period in ’08. Meanwhile, ABC is averaging a 3.2 rating (4.9 million viewers) for nine telecasts, down 13.5% from a 3.7 rating (5.4 million viewers) for nine games at the same point last year. Meanwhile, NBA Playoffs games accounted for the top eight highest-rated programs on cable according to U.S. ratings for the week of May 11-17 (THE DAILY).
KOBE DOIN' WORK: ESPN earned a 5.8 cable rating and 8.085 million viewers for Tuesday's Nuggets-Lakers Western Conference Final Game One, marking the net's most-viewed basketball game ever. It breaks the previous ESPN record of 7.352 million viewers for Lakers-Rockets Western Conference Semifinal Game Six on May 14. Nuggets-Lakers Game One also marks ESPN's highest-rated and most-viewed program this year. The game drew a 16.1 local rating in Denver, marking the highest-ever rated NBA game on ESPN/ABC in the market, and a 13.2 local rating in L.A., making it the highest-rated NBA Playoff game on ESPN in the market (ESPN).
CABLE CRISIS: TNT has the exclusive rights to the Magic-Cavaliers Eastern Conference Final series, and in Cleveland, John Caniglia notes many Cavaliers fans "across Northeast Ohio who lack cable or satellite packages are scrambling to watch the games with friends, at sports bars and on little-known Internet sites." Cleveland resident Eric Smith: "It is absolutely wrong that the Cavs aren't on [broadcast] TV. You can't afford to go to the games, and you can't afford to see them on TV. It is getting to the point that some people are being shut out of sports." Cleveland resident Danny Pittman: "It's a Cleveland team playing, and they should be on television." Caniglia notes fans can watch the series online at atdhe.net, which streams video from TV channels, though the site "does not make clear whether its developers have obtained rights to broadcast the games through the NBA." A TNT spokesperson suggested that the site "could not legally stream the game" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 5/21).
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