Game 1 of the 2007 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs was terrible to watch, and the ratings reflected that. While Game 1 ranks as the highest rated NBA game of the season thus far, the overnight rating (7.9/14) is down 15 percent from Game 1 between Miami and Dallas last year (9.3/16), and more ominously, the rating is down 10% from Game 1 between Detroit and San Antonio two years ago (8.8/15).
Assuming that 7.9/14 holds, it would be the smallest overnight for an NBA Finals game since the disastrous 2003 series between the Spurs and the New Jersey Nets (and the lowest ever for a Game 1). Additionally, the game would be on pace for a final rating in the 6.0 range.
Via the pifeedback.com message board: numbers for the game were down across the board, from a 7.8/14 household rating to a 5.6/10, from 11.5 million viewers to 8.2 million, and from a 4.8/15 rating in the adults 18-49 demo to a 3.3/10. This game is on pace to be the lowest rated Game 1 in the history of the NBA Finals, and assuming the 5.6/10 is accurate, it would be the second lowest NBA Finals game on record — just ahead of the 5.2/10 for Game 2 of the Spurs/Nets series in 2003 (and that game aired in the Friday night death slot).
One aspect of this to keep in mind: “fast nationals measure timeslot data, not live program data, so overnights for last night?s game coverage may be inaccurate. ABC?s ratings will adjust later today when final ratings are released.” That being said, it is hard to imagine the ratings for the game managing to go from bad to decent; all indications are that Game 1 will fall even below the pathetic levels of the 2005 series.
Evidently, LeBron James is not the savior of the NBA.
Via Marc Berman of Mediaweek, here is the ratings breakdown by half-hour.
9:00 p.m. 7.4/12 (#1)
9:30 p.m. 8.4/13 (#1)
10:00 p.m. 8.5/13 (#1)
10:30 p.m. 8.8/14 (#1)
Casual fans may have tuned out because of the presence of the San Antonio Spurs, who have played in seventeen unwatchable NBA Finals games since 1999 (not counting Games 5 and 6 of the Spurs/Pistons series in 2005). Additionally, James seems to need to prove himself to the fans before they tune in to watch him play; Games 1-4 of the Cavaliers/Pistons series drew mediocre ratings, but after Game 5, the numbers skyrocketed for TNT. In other words, if James plays well in Game 2 or Game 3, the ratings might increase.
