With the Knicks missing Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, it should be no surprise that Knicks/Clippers got lost in the shuffle on NCAA Selection Sunday.
Sunday’s Knicks/Clippers NBA regular season game earned a 2.3 overnight rating on ABC, the network’s lowest overnight of the season. The previous low was a 2.7 for Celtics/Thunder last week and Lakers/Mavericks on February 24.
The 2.3 overnight matches last year’s season-low, which was set by Bulls/Thunder on April 1, and ranks as the lowest for a 3:30 PM ET game on ABC since Magic/Suns on Selection Sunday in 2011 (1.7). Last year’s Selection Sunday game, Celtics/Lakers, earned a 3.2 overnight.
Knicks/Clippers was beaten head-to-head by the Ohio State/Wisconsin Big Ten Championship Game on CBS (3.0), and tied Saturday’s Big Ten semifinals as the third-highest rated sporting event of the weekend on broadcast. NASCAR, as usual, took the top spot (4.4).
Carmelo Anthony missed Sunday’s game due to injury. Including Monday’s Knicks/Jazz game, Anthony has missed six of the Knicks’ 20 national TV games this season — more than a quarter. The Knicks’ six national TV games without Anthony matches the total number of TV appearances for the Pacers and Rockets this season.
(Sunday’s overnight from Sports Business Daily)
