The NBA hits rock bottom, and it only has ABC to thank.
Considering how many elements in sports media absolutely despise the NBA, expect this story to be repeated and recycled ad nauseum, and used by hack pundits like Mike Celizic in one of their various NBA bashing pieces.
An NHL game outdrawing the NBA? Absolute gold.
Of course, numbers don’t lie. The fact is, the NHL game “pulled in a larger audience share (percentage of time that people spent watching the telecast*), 3 compared with 2. In total viewership, NBC outdrew ABC 1.31 million to 1.26 million.“
But while numbers don’t lie, one still has to consider all the factors at play.
The reason the NHL game had a higher share is because it aired earlier in the day. The audience share is the measurement of those watching out of the amount of households with their televisions on. From 12:30 to 3:00, there were fewer people watching television — hence a higher share.
Of course, that still doesn’t explain how the NHL game still drew approximately 500,000 more viewers. What might begin to explain it is the fact that the NCAA Tournament was airing opposite the NBA game, while the NHL game did not have such competition. March 18, when the NHL on NBC aired opposite afternoon NCAA Tournament coverage, regional action drew a 0.7 rating.
More importantly, the NCAA Tournament, being a basketball tournament, steals away many of the NBA’s fans. While the hardcore NBA fans tuned in, the fact is that a large majority of the basketball fan audience that usually tunes into games was busy watching Oregon/Florida and UNC/Georgetown.
The numbers can be explained, but not denied. And in a world where people don’t bother to look very far beyond numbers at face value, the NBA can expect a hard multimedia beating. Expect this story to make the rounds on Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption (because ESPN, even though it is an NBA network partner, cannot resist stories that make the league look bad), and especially expect this story to make the rounds on the blogosphere.
But once one cuts through all the ridicule, and all the bashing of the players, and all the bashing of the style of play, the fact remains that this is really an aberration. Certainly, if the NBA stays with ABC, there is a possibility that NHL type ratings will become a norm. However, as it currently stands, the league is not quite yet in crisis. The NBA is not below the NHL in popularity (or even close). There is a possibility that Suns/Mavs on Sunday afternoon will draw close to or more than the 3.3 rating that Hurricanes/Oilers Game 7 drew last summer. And most of all, one must remember that a 1.0 was a dreadful rating for an NBA game, absolutely horrible and a record low. Meanwhile, a 1.0 for the NHL is average.
*Toronto Globe and Mail writer William Houston‘s definition of share appears to be incorrect; the share is “the percent of households or persons using television at the time the program is airing and who are watching a particular program“. In other words, the share is how many people are watching a certain program out of how many people have their television sets on.
