So far so bad. NBA Finals game one was off a whopping 40% from last years number, drawing the lowest prime time rating ever for an NBA final game ever. The NHL is not doing much better. The finals ratings are down 29% on ABC and a frightening 56% on ESPN. Andy
That's too bad for those leagues... but no matter how low their ratings get, it probably won't affect MLS attendance/ratings one bit.
It can be partially explained by the teams in the finals of both but not completely. Maybe it's all the new reality TV shows causing it..lol..
Who are the Canes? Must be an inside the Beltway thing. Anyway, the ratings have been pretty poor for both NBA and NHL playoffs. Odd with a NY metro market being involved in both (Devils and Nets). It is not like SA is a small market either.
Ever? Wow. What kind of ratings did the NBA get in prime time in the pre-Bird and Magic days? Weren't some of the finals tape-delayed until late at night because of their poor ratings?
SA is a small market alright. SA is no comparison to LA. What if the NBA final is between the Lakers and the Nets? it would be bad, as last year's ratings indicated, but not as bad as this year... And don't be fooled by NY metro market. The NY metro market consists of north/central NJ, NYC and LI/Westchester/lower Conneticutt etc. No one with a NY/CT zip code would give a hsit about NJ teams. No historical association, no geographical association. You can have people living in Jersey rooting for the Knicks/Rangers, with all the tradition BS, but not the other way around. The only people care about the NJ teams are the NJ residents, being one for 10 years myself. Notice, the Giants and the Jets are not Jersey teams. Their roots were not in Jersey. They simply play in a Jersey stadium...
ABC the network that shows[ Time BUYS]MLS soccer only 2or 3 times a year at 4pm, but they show NHL at prime time and get no better ratings then MLS. I am very happy for them.
I'm not surprised about the lack of attention in NYC to the Nets/Devils. Each section of the US has its own sports interests. In the NYC area it is pretty clear. Aside from the individual attention paid to the Knicks, Rangers, Giants and Jets, the NYC area is first and foremost a baseball town. The talk at the water cooler was whether the Yankees can avoid facing Sosa, rather than the chances of the Nets/Devils. It's the way it is and the media feeds it. What does this have to do with MLS? Well, for one thing it shows that you cannot fight the culture of an area. First go where there is interest, like Rochester or Seattle or Houston, rather than a 2nd team in NY, or in a city that has unproven soccer interest. Don't worry so much about a big "footprint".
I don't follow the playoffs that closely, but it struck me this year how invisible the NBA playoffs were. Weren't the games all on cable until the finals, even on weekends? Same thing with the NHL? In the old days you'd get playoff games on the major networks earlier, which I would think would build some interest. Now the games are buried on TNT until the finals start in the NBA. All in all, things look pretty bleak for the NHL. They've got contract talks coming up and their next TV deal is probably going to be a revenue decrease.
Re: Re: NHL and NBA Final Ratings - Ugly! Yup, and I think not all games were live even in Magic's rookie year.
That's true. Magic's legendary game against the Sixers in the finals when he played center in place of the injured Jabbar and scored 40 points was shown tape delayed later that evening. Murf
ABC: killing the NBA and NHL? The thing you have to realize about ratings and greatness is that, even at the heights of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson the last 20-some years, NO Finals were able to outdraw the World Series, despite the fact that baseball has shot itself in the foot through labor, gambling, and drug troubles. Three strikes, one lockout, Pete Rose, andro, and Dale Berra have all happened while Jordan, Bird, and Magic were marketable stars. Baseball still has, in the words of Bart Giammati, "a purchase on our national soul." And you know, ABC ditched its half-share in The Baseball Network?
When the media capital is ignoring teams in it's own market. the lesson is : Get an MLS team in NYC fast.
Re: ABC: killing the NBA and NHL? Dale Berra? I mean, I know who Dale Berra is, but I'm confused why you're bringing him up. ABC does nothing for baseball in this country.
It just gets better and better for ABC. This is secondhand, but... After Game 1 last week, Mike Francesa on WFAN (a blowhard sometimes, but worth listening to when he talks about things he knows about - and sports on TV seems to be one of them) said that he had been told that ABC promised advertisers a 12 rating for spots during the NBA Finals. Game 1 drew around a 6. At that rate, they'll be serving up givebacks to their advertisers all the way into Monday Night Football, thus cutting into MNF's profits. Think ABC is happy right about now?
Wow. That's a little ambitious for ABC, if it's true. The last 12 NBA Finals games ratings prior to this year: 2002 (Lakers-Nets) Game 1: 10.6 Game 2: 9.1 Game 3: 10.2 Game 4: 10.8 2001 (Lakers-76ers) Game 1: 12.4 Game 2: 11.6 Game 3: 12.7 Game 4: 12.6 Game 5: 11.2 2000 (Lakers-Pacers) Game 1: N/A Game 2: N/A Game 3: N/A Game 4: 13.1 Game 5: 10.0 Game 6: 14.7 I don't know enough about makegoods to know if they just give them unsold inventory anyway. I wouldn't think a makegood could take the place of a sold spot in a future telecast (unless they squeeze more into each break than normal), so I'm not exactly sure if make goods really hurt the finances that badly or not. But considering how often we hear about them, it sure seems like networks overpromise and underdeliver. Eventually advertisers are going to catch on. You'd think.
Re: Re: ABC: killing the NBA and NHL? The drug scandals --- Keith Hernandez, Ron LeFlore, Tim Raines, etc.
Sounds like perhaps this year's Women's World Cup may have an easier time than initially thought of repeating two feats from '99: semifinal with higher ratings than last game of Stanley Cup finals; final with higher ratings than NBA finals game. It would be great for the sport and great for the country.
Depends on when and where it's broadcast. We still don't know where they'll shoehorn it in, and it will be up against much stiffer competition than either the NHL or NBA finals have in June. I figured Dale Berra was a drug reference, but it was more obscure than saying Keith Hernandez/Willie Wilson/Dave Parker or any of those other guys from 1985.
I could see the WWC Final being played in the late afternoon on ESPN2 for a non-US final. If the US is in it, I could see a prime-time on ABC, or late afternoon on ESPN. As for lower ratings for NHL and NBA - could it be sport burnout by the time the finals actually happen? The playoffs seem so long and the media hype so high that it may turn-off the fans of other teams. Not to mention the games reach into the 'outdoors' season (Hockey in June?). Hasn't the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl experienced similar problems?
I wouldn't read too much into the low NHL and NBA playoff ratings. These are not popular, nationally followed teams. If the Rangers were in the final and not the Devils it would be a very different story. The game 7 when the Rangers won the cup is still the highest rated program in the history of the MSG network. Hockey is a regional sport - I would say it reflects more on how unpopular the Devils are as opposed to hockey in general.