At least the NBA is still beating the NHL. Well, with the exception of that Sunday in March when regional coverage on NBC beat Phoenix/Sacramento on ABC. But that was just the one time.
And at least the NBA Playoffs are still beating regular season baseball games. Well, with the exception of Sunday, when Yankees/Red Sox beat Heat/Bulls by nearly a full ratings point. But that was Yankees/Red Sox, after all.
Okay, then. At least the NBA is still beating the WNBA. But then again, the regular season average of a 2.0 rating on ABC this past season was only .1 higher than the average regular season rating for WNBA games on NBC in 1997. But that was ten years ago — who cares if the NBA is where the WNBA was ten years ago?
Television is antiquated anyway. Digital rights deals, streaming video — that’s really important. And just because only two NBA Finals games in the past two years have drawn a 10.0 rating or higher doesn’t mean the league is in trouble. Just because a playoff game could not beat a regular season baseball game doesn’t mean the league is in trouble. Just because ratings fell all the way to a 1.0 for Suns/Kings in March (and just because the NHL had more viewers that day) doesn’t mean the league is in trouble.
Everything is fine. The league is in great shape. Just look at the television partners — ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV. There were eight playoff games on national television last weekend (and granted, only two of them were not on cable). The playoff atmosphere was there, the announcers were excited — I mean, who doesn’t think Dave Pasch when they think NBA Playoffs?
Just look at the support ESPN gave the NBA over the weekend. In a weekend where a much more important Yankees/Red Sox series was getting promotion constantly, including during NBA Playoff games, ESPN found the time to sporadically air ads for meaningless first round match-ups. And look — they even remixed the Right Now song by The Pussycat Dolls! How wonderful — they even got them to change into skimpier outfits.
And just look at the great timeslots games were given. I mean, who doesn’t want to wake up at 9:30 AM Pacific time on a Saturday to watch a playoff game? And is there a better timeslot for a featured game than 3:00 PM on the East Coast? A courteous timeslot too; God forbid an NBA Playoff game start at 5:30 PM and intrude on ABC’s important Saturday night programming.
This fantastic television coverage is just beginning. Next week, ABC will air two playoff games on the same day! Amazing! And one will air at 10:00 AM out West (on a Sunday), making it even more convenient for potential viewers. ESPN is even going to sacrifice an entire night of NFL Draft coverage on Saturday, moving the most important event in sports ever to ESPN2. And why? So it can air NBA Playoff games. What charity! I mean, who cares if they don’t promote the games — they have to be committed to the league if they actually pre-empt coverage of the NFL Draft.
And you have to love the tagline ESPN is using this year. Will you be watching when? Who cares if the resounding answer across the nation is “no”? Its a much better tagline than the one they will use next year — “We couldn’t care less if you watch, Yankees/Red Sox airs tonight at 8:00”.
So the NBA is fine. The league has a committed broadcast partner in ABC, a network that will actually air two whole primetime games before the Finals this year. Two! And both on Saturday nights, the lowest rated night of the week. That ABC would actually sacrifice two whole nights of primetime programming to the lowly NBA is a gift that David Stern could never have imagined seven years ago (when NBC aired a maximum of seven primetime games before the Finals). And one of those primetime games will be in the Conference Finals. Can you imagine? An NBA Conference Final game on broadcast television! Someone sound the bells, ABC has given NBA fans yet another gift.
The league also has strong, devoted cable partners. Is there anything better than watching a playoff game on TNT, and then suddenly seeing a tiny body bag in the left corner of the screen while Kyra Sedgwick walks over, takes a look inside and grimaces? Is there anything better than Dave Pasch and Mark Jones calling NBA Playoff games? I know whenever I hear their voices I think ‘this is a big time game’. And I know that whenever I hear Jeremy Piven‘s nasal voice comparing Cleveland, Ohio to Grover Cleveland, its playoff time.
I love this game.
