ABC will air 18 regular season games during the 2007-08 season, the fewest since 2004-05. Unlike last year, ABC will not air a game on NFL Championship Sunday (in 2006, regional games on that day drew a 1.9 rating; in 2007, Mavericks/Heat on that day drew a 2.0 rating). Additionally, ABC will continue airing games opposite March Madness. However, those games have been moved up from a 3:30 PM start last year to a 1:00 PM start this season.
Only ten of the NBA’s thirty teams will appear on ABC this season: The Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, and Houston Rockets.
For the first time since the 2004-05 season, ABC will not feature any ‘flexible schedule’ games; in the past two seasons, ABC would set aside several Sundays per season, where the network would pick a match-up from a slate of two to three games.
2007-08 NBA on ABC schedule, with analysis of match-ups:
Tuesday, December 25
2:30 PM: Miami at Cleveland
5:00 PM: Phoenix at L.A. Lakers
- Evidently, someone forgot to tell the executives at ABC and the NBA that the Los Angeles Lakers are unwatchable and the Suns/Lakers rivalry essentially died with that unceremonious 4-1 playoff series last spring. Even worse than yet another Suns/Lakers game is the fact that ABC will not air any primetime NBA games on Christmas — despite the fact that the NFL is taking the night off. In 2002 and 2003, ABC aired a Christmas Day doubleheader at 6:00 PM and 8:30 PM ET.
- Suggested schedule: Dallas/Golden State at 3:30 PM, Miami/Cleveland at 6:00 PM, Phoenix/San Antonio at 8:30 PM.
Sunday, January 27
1:00 PM: Phoenix at Chicago
3:30 PM: Cleveland at L.A. Lakers
- A decent double-header. ABC typically gets strong numbers on the last Sunday of January, and a LeBron/Kobe match-up could draw a better rating than the 2.8 Spurs/Lakers drew in the same timeslot on the same date last year. Could a 3.0 rating for a regular season game be in ABC’s future?
- Suggested schedule: No changes necessary.
Sunday, February 3
2:30 PM: Dallas at Detroit
- Only hardcore NBA fans will watch this game. The Detroit Pistons are old and tired, and the bloom is off the rose for Dallas after that six-game debacle against Golden State. In a meeting on ABC last year, Pistons/Mavericks drew a 1.3. Last year, Pistons/Cavaliers drew a mere 1.9 on Superbowl Sunday. Take the starpower of LeBron James out of the mix, and the rating might be even lower.
- Suggested schedule: Boston at Phoenix.
Sunday, February 10
1:00 PM: Denver at Cleveland
3:30 PM: L.A. Lakers at Miami
- Amazingly, this will be only the fifth game Carmelo Anthony has ever played on ABC. Lakers/Heat is extremely tired; by now, one would expect that most fans are sick and tired of Kobe and Shaq, and even more sick and tired of the Lakers and the Heat.
- Suggested schedule: L.A. Lakers at Miami or Chicago at San Antonio at 1:00 PM, Cleveland at Denver at 3:30 PM. If you have to air Kobe/Shaq for the umpteenth time, do it in an early timeslot with a back-up game at the ready, just in case.
Sunday, February 24
3:30 PM: Detroit at Phoenix
- This would have been a marquee match-up two years ago, but the Pistons are likely to simply go through the motions at any point during the season. Even though they are one of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference, would America really want to watch that team play in the “Game of the Week”?
- Suggested schedule: Portland at Boston or Washington at Phoenix. Greg Oden and the Blazers versus Kevin Garnett and the Celtics? That may not draw a 3.0 rating, or even a 2.5. But it will draw more eyeballs than the Pistons will — even against the Suns. And just in case the Blazers are awful, keep a fast-paced, entertaining Wizards/Suns game as a back-up.
Sunday, March 2
1:00 PM: Chicago at Cleveland
3:30 PM: Dallas at L.A. Lakers
- Both match-ups are fine, though the ratings may not be stellar. On the comparable date last year, Lakers/Suns drew a mere 1.9.
- Suggested schedule: Chicago at Cleveland or Dallas at Houston at 1:00 PM, Dallas at L.A. Lakers at 3:30 PM. Bulls/Cavaliers could be fantastic (like the Final Four Saturday match-up last season), or it could be a hard-to-watch grind; with a match-up like that, it is always a good idea to have a regional back-up game that might be more interesting.
Sunday, March 9
3:30 PM: San Antonio at Phoenix
- Great match-up, bad date. This is when college basketball is in full swing, and the ratings should reflect that. This would have been a great game for the January 27 spot, where it may have drawn a 3.0 rating. That being said, this will probably get the best rating on this date of any possible game.
- Suggested schedule: No changes necessary.
Sunday, March 16
3:30 PM: Dallas at Miami
- Fans get tired of the same thing every year. While the Mavericks and Heat played a classic series in 2006, neither team was very impressive in 2007 (at least in the playoffs). This would have been good as the first game of a doubleheader. Factor in that this game will air on Selection Sunday, and it will be hard pressed to draw a 2.0 rating.
- Suggested schedule: Golden State at Phoenix or Houston at Boston. If you have to air a game on Selection Sunday, make sure its a vibrant, run and gun game like Warriors/Suns. And just in case the Warriors are awful next season, schedule Rockets/Celtics as a solid back-up.
Sunday, March 23
1:00 PM: San Antonio at Dallas
- Great match-up, horrible date. For the sake of its average rating, ABC should simply give up on airing games opposite the NCAA Tournament.
- Suggested schedule: No game.
Sunday, March 30
1:00 PM: Houston at San Antonio
- This game might not even draw a 1.5 rating, despite being a relatively solid match-up.
- Suggested schedule: No game.
Sunday, April 6
1:00 PM: Detroit at Miami
3:30 PM: Dallas at Phoenix
- ABC aired this same match-up on the first Sunday of April last year. As mentioned before, fans get tired of the same games every year. While Dallas/Phoenix will draw some eyeballs, fans have seen enough of the Pistons and Heat.
- Suggested schedule: Denver at Boston or Portland at Orlando at 1:00 PM, Dallas at Phoenix at 3:30 PM. Nuggets/Celtics may not draw huge ratings, but it is a match-up fans have not seen one thousand times in the past two years. Greg Oden versus Dwight Howard is a decent back-up game.
Sunday, April 13
1:00 PM: Miami at Cleveland
3:30 PM: San Antonio at L.A. Lakers
- While Dwyane Wade and LeBron James are two great players, the Heat and Cavaliers can be brutal to watch. If Wade and James play like they did in a matin?e matchup in 2006, this is a great game. Otherwise, expect an 82-80 grind that may not even draw a 2.0. Spurs/Lakers is an okay match-up, though it may result in a blowout.
- Suggested schedule: Lakers at Spurs at 1:00 PM, Denver at Phoenix or Houston at Dallas at 3:30 PM.
