NBA ratings round-up.

Commentary on the decline in NBA ratings, ranging from those who believe the league is in need of major changes to the playoff format, to one writer who blames the league’s TV woes on isolated controversies going back ten years (even going so far as to refer to the league’s “criminal activity”).

Bethlehem Shoals, The Fanhouse, “Longform Shoals: How Bad Ratings Will Set the NBA Free“

“Ever since the NBA became the flagship sport of the hip-hop generation, some well-meaning folks have feared that the league was ruined. And so, the Right Way revolt began. …

Well, the Right Way special interest group got their symbolic victories, and the ratings still stink. Younger fans, and the players they look up to, attempted to fight back without conceding to wild accusations. Instead of letting letting each other live in peace, these factions have played tug-of-war with the game’s soul. …

Now we know: neither spartan excellence (Spurs) nor superhuman charisma (LeBron) can make general fans tune in. Finally, Stern can stop fretting over how to attract the elusive American middle, and the battles over what the league should be can cease.”

Ken Berger, Newsday, “Better matchups might boost NBA ratings“

“TV ratings for the NBA Finals are dismal, and so are the games. Why? A lot of reasons. But the one the league has the power to solve is the fact that once again, the two best teams aren’t playing for the championship. …

The days of record TV ratings for every sport other than the NFL are over. But the NBA should at least give fans the best it has to offer at its showcase event. That hasn’t happened in the Finals for most of the last decade. In my ‘hood, they call that a trend.”

Bruce Arthur, National Post, “It’s tough to defend these ratings“

“But for a real ratings disaster, add the mob-show whacking to the fact that this is, for many, an unappealing NBA Finals matchup. Game 1 between San Antonio and the Cleveland Cavaliers was the lowest-rated prime-time Finals opener in history, largely because these two teams are defined largely by steel-reinforced defence. And in every sport, defence may win, but it doesn’t sell.”

Ray Ratto, CBS Sportsline.com, “Spurs, Cavs not to blame for bad ratings; you are“

“The Spurs will be blamed for this. That is the most amazing part. We condemn them for their success. We damn them for having one of the five or 10 best players ever. We curse them for having a head coach who is more sardonic than he is Auerbachian. We revile them for being too good for their contemporaries. And why do we that? Simple. We’re not very smart. …

[W]e, in our wisdom, have started making judgments about the sports based solely on how many people are watching, as though our own tastes can be validated only by those of the guy in the next cubicle, or the woman in the staff meeting. And it leads to extraordinary silliness, like the screeching from Eastern medioids about the NBA Draft. Bill Rhoden, who actually knows his stuff, suggested the draft be adjusted to benefit the Knicks because New York is so important to the league’s image (read: TV package). And we can’t begin to count the people who have vilified the Spurs for being inadequately telegenic without first savaging the Cavs for being inadequately competitive.”

Richard Sandomir, New York Times, “For Cavaliers-Spurs, Where Have All the Viewers Gone?“

“This doesn?t seem like a series that people are turning off; it appears more like one they?re barely tuning in. Even James?s sensational performance in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals ? which evoked comparisons to Michael Jordan ? did not compel a surge of the curious to watch the start of the finals. Game 1 generated just 9.2 million viewers, down 20 percent from Game 1 of last year?s Dallas-Miami finals. …

We?ve got the 17th market and the 37th market, a matchup of the smallest markets in N.B.A. finals history,? said Len DeLuca, a senior vice president of ESPN, which oversees ABC Sports, referring to the respective sizes of the Cleveland and the San Antonio markets. ?You can?t run away from the low numbers, but we?re in this for the long haul; this isn?t just the fifth year of a six-year relationship, but Year Five of what we hope will be a 15-year relationship. You have to take the highs and the lows.

Despite dismal viewership for the finals, ABC is still winning the more focused race for male viewers ? as it should ? but those demographics have fallen 21 percent to 31 percent through Game 3 of the Spur-Cavaliers series. The games have almost always won the crucial demographic of adults in the 18-to-49 range since Game 1 of the 2003 finals, the first for ABC under its current deal.”

Terry Frei, Denver Post, “NBA ratings, ?niche? sports and traditional attitudes“

“Everything?s becoming a niche. Even the NBA is. There?s not necessarily anything wrong with that.

I understand that what we?ve been seeing ? at least when we tune in ? is rotten basketball to watch. It is indefensible, and it is absolutely true that the Cavs-Spurs isn?t anything close to a matchup of the best in the league. I?ve argued for cross-seeding in the NHL for years, and this is giving impetus to the same argument in the NBA. …

Bottom line: When you have the combination of a terrible Finals and a fragmenting audience under the best of circumstances, the deteriorating numbers indeed were inevitable.”

David Pratt, The Province, “Nachos best served cold on the NBA’s hardwood“

“Nine years ago, with Michael Jordan leading the way, the league was knocking on the NFL’s door. Game 6 of the 1998 NBA final between Chicago and Utah attracted an audience of 72 million. Now the league has the cache of a plate of cold nachos.

Sadly, this is a self-inflicted wound. In the last decade, the NBA has seen more criminal activity than the final season of The Sopranos. …

NBA commissioner David Stern certainly understands the horrific problem the league has and two years ago, in an attempt to clean up this gangster image, imposed a dress code.”

Tags: Roundup

Stern on the ratings.

Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis since 2006 as the founder and main writer of Sports Media Watch. You can contact him here or on the social media websites X (Twitter) or Bluesky.

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Comments 3

Anonymous says:

19 years ago

The Michael Vick situation is nastier than anything I’ve heard about an NBA player recently. I don’t think it’s “image problems” that are hurting the NBA, but too many teams and talent being spread thin. The league needs to start making itself more appealing in the large markets again. Other than LA which doesn’t have an NFL team, it’s pretty much the third wheel in a lot of major cities. People aren’t going to suddenly tune into the finals if they didn’t care about all the games that preceded it.
Vancity dude says:

19 years ago

Agreed. I’m ashamed to have a member of Vancouver’s media dribble BS out of his mouth without taking a second to think it through. The NFL definitely holds the crown on criminal activity. However, the percentage of professional athletes who are involved in criminal activity does not support calling the NBA or any sport “gangster.” There’s a reason Iverson “played the race card” – racism still exists.
Sports on a Schtick says:

19 years ago

That last article was incredibly moronic. Last time I checked NFL players also had their share of “criminal activity” and yet the Super Bowl remains the mecca for TV ratings.

SMW Podcast

Bomani Jones joins the pod, plus thoughts on Ernie Johnson's exit, World Series ratings and more

0:000:00

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