State of the Networks II: Turner Sports

In just over eight years time, Turner’s portfolio has expanded to include the NBA Conference Finals, Major League Baseball’s League Championship Series and the NCAA Tournament — three marquee events that were virtually exclusive to broadcast television during the 1990s. In fact, Turner Sports has the rights to most of the NBA Playoffs, most of the MLB Postseason and most of the NCAA Tournament — giving Turner approximately four months of the year (March, April, May and October) when its networks are a nightly must-watch for sports fans.

The most recent addition to the Turner Sports line-up is the NCAA Tournament. In April, Turner and CBS partnered on a 14-year deal that will give Turner networks the rights to several first and second round games, as well as part of the Sweet Sixteen. Starting in 2016, Turner will televise part of the Elite Eight, with TBS airing all of the Final Four in alternating years — meaning that the champion of college basketball will be crowned on cable TV.

The deal was a big win for Turner for a variety of reasons — not the least of which is it kept the NCAA Tournament away from rival ESPN, which already has the entire Bowl Championship Series. TBS, and by extension TNT, have been legitimized as potential homes for championship events. Considering the long relationships Turner has with the NBA and Major League Baseball, perhaps the NCAA Tournament deal will pave the way for TNT to air an NBA Finals or TBS to carry a World Series.

Turner has also been mentioned as a possible home for the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games in what would be another partnership with CBS. It remains to be seen how the NCAA Tournament deal will affect the potential CBS/Turner Olympic bid.

Of course, all of these possibilities are a long way off — as is the first year TBS will air the National Championship Game. In the meantime, the current Turner Sports line-up continues to attract solid numbers, though ratings have dropped recently for the marquee events.

The NBA Conference Finals leads the way for Turner Sports, with the 2010 Lakers/Suns series averaging a 4.6 U.S. rating 7.854 million viewers — the second-most viewed Conference Final ever on TNT, but down 9% from Magic/Cavaliers on the network a year earlier. Every single game of the series was down from 2009, helping drag down the numbers for the entire NBA Playoffs on TNT.

The ’09 Phillies/Dodgers NLCS was also down from the previous year, averaging a 3.7 U.S. rating and approximately 6.0 million viewers. The series was the second-least viewed League Championship Series since 1976, ahead of only Rockies/Diamondbacks on TBS two years earlier. Like the NBA Playoffs, the entire MLB Postseason on TBS was down from the previous year.

Meanwhile, NASCAR ratings have been generally down on TNT the past two years, with eight of the past eleven races on the network having declines. In 2010, two races on TNT drew less than a 3.0 rating — making them the lowest rated NASCAR races on the network since the network began its six-week ‘Summer Series’ in 2007.

There are some positive notes. Last year, TBS had its best week in network history in households, viewers and all key adult demographics thanks to the MLB postseason. Meanwhile, for the second straight year, the NBA regular season was the most-viewed on TNT since 1995-96 — topping even the last two years of Michael Jordan‘s run with the Bulls — and the last two Conference Finals on TNT rank as the two most-viewed ever on the network.

Overall, Turner Sports boasts a line-up of marquee events that rivals anything on broadcast or cable. Even with recent declines, the network continues to draw some of its best numbers in years on both an individual sport and network level. That already strong line-up will be bolstered next year by one of the highest rated events in sports.