TNT averaged a 2.6 rating and 4.0 million viewers for its 26 telecasts in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, the net's best first round audience since '11. Viewership and ratings were up 19% and 13%, respectively. TNT won the night in primetime on cable 11 times among males 18-34 and 18-49 and seven times among total viewers. Meanwhile, ESPN averaged a 2.2 rating and 3.5 million viewers for its nine telecasts of the first round, marking the net's second-best audience for the opening round on record. Those figures are up 10% and 12%, respectively, from a 2.0 rating and 3.1 million viewers last year. ESPN2's two first round telecasts also saw an audience uptick compared to three games last year. The net's games averaged 1.23 million viewers, up from 1.21 million in ’13. NBA TV also had record numbers for its first-round telecasts (THE DAILY).
MESOZOIC ERA: TSN averaged 732,000 viewers for the Nets-Raptors first-round series, making it the most-watched NBA Playoffs series on record on the net. Sunday's Game 7 averaged 912,000 viewers, marking the third most-watched Raptors game ever (THE DAILY).
NOT THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: ESPN Senior VP & Exec Producer Mark Gross said that Michelle Beadle filling in for Sage Steele last Friday and Sunday on "NBA Countdown" was "not an audition for future NBA hosting on ESPN." But SI.com's Richard Deitsch writes, "Of course it was an audition." Everything "is an audition in sports television in some sense," and the reviews for Beadle were "very strong." She "proved a nice fit with analysts Doug Collins, Jalen Rose and Bill Simmons." Deitsch: "Does this mean Beadle will be replacing Steele? Not at all." Steele "signed a multiyear extension last year," and ESPN management would "like to get some continuity with Countdown." But if Steele "has other interests beyond sports or wants to return to a fulltime job back on the East Coast, things could change." There is "no doubt that CAA, which reps both Beadle and Steele ... would love to affix its client in a hosting role beyond SportsNation." Beadle has "positioned herself, if nothing else, to be the first backup" for Steele and Doris Burke. Deitsch: "What role does Gross see Beadle having at ESPN heading forward?" Gross said, "I don't have SportsNation under my umbrella but from where I sit, I think she has a big-time future at ESPN and there are other shows out there that might be able to benefit from having her presence on the show. Her NBA work only confirmed to me that she is a special talent. She is firmly on the radar on everybody at the company" (SI.com, 5/6).
SHIFTING THE ATTENTION: In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes NBA Commissioner Adam Silver "must be hoping playoff matchups," like Heat-Nets and Thunder-Clippers, will be "so compelling they take the media focus off" the Donald Sterling story. Any shift in attention will "spare the league and its owners." The league is "getting plenty of help here," as ESPN has "used its multiple platforms to focus on the excitement of the first round while selling the notion (just listen to the commercials) that the conference semifinals will be even better." TNT's Kevin Harlan on Saturday "left his melodramatic imprint" on the series, saying of the Clippers, "They have gone through hell and survived" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 5/6).
