Concluding the season with an awful 1.4 rating for Bulls/Wizards last Sunday, ABC registered its lowest average rating yet for an NBA season — a 2.0 rating for 19 telecasts. While a 2.0 is a rating that the NHL could only dream of for playoff telecasts, it is far below expectations for the league.
Heading into the season, ABC had a strong slate of games featuring some of the best teams in the league. And through February, ratings were not horrible. Nine games through February 25 averaged a 2.3 rating — nothing to celebrate, but decent at the very least.
March was an extreme disappointment for ABC. Four games in four consecutive weeks failed to draw a 2.0 rating. From March 11 to March 25, no game drew even a 1.4, and Phoenix/Sacramento drew a record low 1.0 rating. It should be pointed out that in those three weeks, the Sacramento Kings were on twice.
The month of April failed to help ABC, as ratings continued to be anemic. On April 1, Heat/Pistons drew a 1.9 rating in the 1:00 PM timeslot, while Mavericks/Suns drew a very disappointing 2.4 (considering the quality of the teams playing, one would have expected a better rating). The next week, Cavaliers/Pistons drew a 1.8, while Suns/Lakers drew a 2.3. And last week, April 15, Bulls/Wizards drew a 1.4 while Spurs/Mavericks drew a 2.2.
Some are blaming the ratings slide on the fact that ABC only televised one Christmas Day game. And the fact is, “if Christmas Day games are not included, ABC?s ratings are even with last year, averaging a 1.9 rating for 18 telecasts“.
Still, a 1.9 is awful. Especially for the NBA. David Stern will renew his television deal with ABC — that is all but decided. But considering the precipitous fall in television ratings (from 2.6 when ABC started this deal in 2003 to 2.0 today), one wonders what the Commissioner is thinking.
