• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

NBA Finals TV Ratings

T

tbolt909

Banned
NBA Finals ratings: Pacers-Thunder thriller posts worst Game 1 numbers since league's COVID-19 downturn

Game 1 between Indiana and Oklahoma City was a classic with the Pacers winning in dramatic fashion. Unfortunately, many viewers stayed away as the ratings were down significantly. The 2 teams are from smaller markets and casual fans obviously are not familiar with how good these teams are. It's curious that so much chatter online is about Pro Sports being rigged. People whined about The Patriots and Chiefs winning too much. Now, when 2 fresh teams make it to the Finals very few care to watch...
 
There were some of the big market teams that got eliminated in the first, second and semifinals such as the Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors,, Boston Celtics, LA Lakers, LA Clippers and New York Knicks. That does not shock me that its the way it is given that the larger cities have tuned out and moved on from the finals. Yes and the other factor is the State of Indiana and State of Oklahoma are the majority of viewers watching the NBA Finals for obvious reasons.
 
Y2kTheNewOldies said:
There were some of the big market teams that got eliminated in the first, second and semifinals such as the Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors,, Boston Celtics, LA Lakers, LA Clippers and New York Knicks. That does not shock me that its the way it is given that the larger cities have tuned out and moved on from the finals. Yes and the other factor is the State of Indiana and State of Oklahoma are the majority of viewers watching the NBA Finals for obvious reasons.
Click to expand...
Does Disney have to cut ad rates if none of those above-mentioned teams gets in, like now? I remember rumors to that effect during the 2021 Finals with the Bucks over the Suns, even taking into account that it was a year after COVID.
 
KeithE4 said:
Does Disney have to cut ad rates if none of those above-mentioned teams gets in, like now? I remember rumors to that effect during the 2021 Finals with the Bucks over the Suns, even taking into account that it was a year after COVID.
Click to expand...
Obviously, the Networks would prefer Boston, LA, New York, Chicago. They were quite happy with last years Boston vs Dallas matchup. True basketball fans will watch no matter who is playing, but these 2 teams are still unknown to casual fans. I doubt a rate discount will be given to advertisers for next year.

I remember when the NBA Finals were NOT televised live on network TV. I watched the Boston Celtics play the Houston Rockets in 1981 on tape delay at 1130pm West Coast Time. Think how bizarre that was...
 
Rooting on the Seattle SuperSonics... I meant the OKC Thunder. That's what they were before the late '00s, at least. ;)
And yes, CBS used to do those tape-delays decades ago. They would preempt the CBS Late Movie. Definitely bizarre, but the Indy 500 was also tape-delayed to primetime in those days too.
 
Don CT said:
The problem with the NBA Finals is they are too spread out. 3-4 days between games is absurd.
Click to expand...
Game 1 was Thursday and Game 2 was Sunday. There is no good reason for that. They should be able to play every other day. Maybe 2 days after Game 2 for travel, but flying is no hardship anymore. Teams have their own planes.

However, the ratings decline isn't because of the schedule.
Apparently, the general public isn't interested in these 2 teams. Without a Jordan, Curry, LeBron , Shaq , etc. type superstar or big market team, the ratings suffer...
 
tbolt909 said:
Game 1 was Thursday and Game 2 was Sunday. There is no good reason for that. They should be able to play every other day. Maybe 2 days after Game 2 for travel, but flying is no hardship anymore. Teams have their own planes.

However, the ratings decline isn't because of the schedule.
Apparently, the general public isn't interested in these 2 teams. Without a Jordan, Curry, LeBron , Shaq , etc. type superstar or big market team, the ratings suffer...
Click to expand...
ESPNs coverage is bad in general. Maybe NBC can fix it.
 
tbolt909 said:
However, the ratings decline isn't because of the schedule.
Apparently, the general public isn't interested in these 2 teams.
Click to expand...

Bingo! There are no huge "stars" on these teams. They are also in very small markets. It's a nightmare for Adam Silver. Playing games back to back wouldn't significantly increase the ratings.
 
Street Novelist said:
Bingo! There are no huge "stars" on these teams. They are also in very small markets. It's a nightmare for Adam Silver. Playing games back to back wouldn't significantly increase the ratings.
Click to expand...
The NBA deserves every bit of it. They've blown the Big Stars/Top Markets horn for decades. Without one or the other (preferably both), they have little to offer the big-market fans or the national advertisers. Nobody, especially ESPN, cares about Indianapolis or OKC in pro sports (college is another story).
 
crainbebo said:
Rooting on the Seattle SuperSonics... I meant the OKC Thunder. That's what they were before the late '00s, at least. ;)
And yes, CBS used to do those tape-delays decades ago. They would preempt the CBS Late Movie. Definitely bizarre, but the Indy 500 was also tape-delayed to primetime in those days too.
Click to expand...

Rooting for OKC, seriously? You're definitely in the minority in the upper left corner of the U.S.A....
 
KeithE4 said:
The NBA deserves every bit of it. They've blown the Big Stars/Top Markets horn for decades. Without one or the other (preferably both), they have little to offer the big-market fans or the national advertisers. Nobody, especially ESPN, cares about Indianapolis or OKC in pro sports (college is another story).
Click to expand...
Gilgeous -Alexander is the MVP and should be better known. Halliburton and Pascal Siakam are excellent players. Siakam won a title in Toronto a few years ago. Jokic lead the Denver Nuggets to the title 2 years ago and is a Top 3 player. Great players are everywhere.

You're correct that the league deserves blame. They focused on LeBron almost exclusively. They thought for sure that Luka Doncic going to the Lakers guaranteed a Finals appearance. The fans also deserve blame. People whine when one team dominates and they cry about "rigged games". Now they get a new match up and they tune out. Go figure...
 
KeithE4 said:
The NBA deserves every bit of it. They've blown the Big Stars/Top Markets horn for decades. Without one or the other (preferably both), they have little to offer the big-market fans or the national advertisers. Nobody, especially ESPN, cares about Indianapolis or OKC in pro sports (college is another story).
Click to expand...
Both of this year's finalists are going to be the NBA's problem for several seasons. They're young teams who don't have to worry about a mass exodus to big media markets by their stars.

Another factor: Indiana and Oklahoma are deep red states. Chances are there are a significant number of FORMER Pacers and Thunder fans who turned off the NBA after 2020 and the subsequent virtue signaling regarding BLM and related issue by the league and its players.
 
CTListener said:
Both of this year's finalists are going to be the NBA's problem for several seasons. They're young teams who don't have to worry about a mass exodus to big media markets by their stars.

Another factor: Indiana and Oklahoma are deep red states. Chances are there are a significant number of FORMER Pacers and Thunder fans who turned off the NBA after 2020 and the subsequent virtue signaling regarding BLM and related issue by the league and its players.
Click to expand...
Why would that be a factor? Basically, you're saying these type of people don't watch the NBA because there are "Too many Black players". The same idiots said they would boycott the NFL over players kneeling during the National Anthem. NFL ratings are still sky high.

Bottom line-- 2 smaller market teams are playing in the Finals. Casual viewers don't know the players on these teams, hence low ratings...
 


Back
Top Bottom