TNT's studio team "will originate all of its programming from inside AmericanAirlines Arena" for tonight's Bulls-Heat Eastern Conference Finals Game Four, according to a source cited by Ira Winderman of the South Florida SUN-SENTINEL. The studio panel broadcast outside the arena for Sunday's Game Three, and during postgame coverage analyst Charles Barkley "became the focus of intense jeering and other acts of derision in the wake of his recent criticism of the Heat." Having called the Heat a "whiny bunch" earlier in the series, Barkley "playfully responded to Sunday's chants at one point with a middle-finger salute from each raised hand." A fan "then threw what appeared to be a towel" at Barkley "while he was on the temporary set." Barkley said, "Most of the fans are cool. There's always going to be a couple of idiots. ... We go through this every couple of years when we travel. If you don't pick somebody's team, their fans become idiots. But you don't take that personally." Winderman notes TNT's studio broadcasts "all were handled inside the United Center for Game 1 and Game 2 of this series in Chicago" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 5/24). USA TODAY's Weir & McCarthy note several fans "tossed towels at Barkley while he and his fellow 'Inside the NBA' panelists were on the air." The first towel "whizzed by" Barkley's head, and another "appeared to hit him in the back" (USA TODAY, 5/24).
NUMBERS GAME: ESPN earned a 5.7 overnight Nielsen rating for last night's Mavericks-Thunder NBA Western Conference Finals Game Four, down 8% from a 6.2 overnight for the net's comparable Celtics-Magic Game Four (THE DAILY). USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand writes Thunder-Mavericks is "getting respectable ratings but nothing like the Miami Heat-Chicago Bulls TV blockbuster." Hiestand: "If LeBron & Co. make the NBA Finals, they would be a draw against the Washington Generals" (USA TODAY, 5/24). TNT earned a 6.4 U.S. rating and 10.889 million viewers for Sunday night’s Bulls-Heat Eastern Conference Finals Game Three, marking the second-most-viewed NBA game in cable TV history. The audience figure falls just short of the record 11.1 million viewers set in Game One. Through three games of the Eastern Conference Finals, TNT has averaged a 6.2 rating and 10.667 million viewers, up 35% and 42%, respectively, from the comparable Lakers-Suns Western Conference Finals last year (TNT).
