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Even the majesty that is LeBron James couldn't trump Tony Soprano. Game 2 of the NBA finals, which aired on Walt Disney's (NYSE: DIS) ABC Network, saw a drop in ratings as the San Antonio Spurs won 103-92, going up two games to none against the James-led Cleveland Cavaliers. Early numbers revealed that the game posted an overnight rating of 6.9 on the network, drawing 5.6% of U.S. TV households. This represents a 24% drop from the previous year's 9.1 rating for Game 2 of the Dallas Mavericks/Miami Heat series. NBA officials cited The Sopranos season finale for a large reason why folks weren't tuning in to catch some hoops. Available in 30 million households, the HBO show drew 11.9 million viewers; the game attracted 8.5 million viewers during the same hour-long time slot.
But The Sopranos finale was just one hour on one night. Maybe the sagging ratings are because both San Antonio and Cleveland are relatively small markets (number 37 and 17, respectively)? Or perhaps in the post-Jordan era, people just don't care as much about professional basketball?
According to USA Today, ESPN's NBA playoff broadcasts this season averaged 2.4% of cable TV households - on par with the rock-bottom numbers of 2003 - while ABC says its regular-season games (up to the finals) have seen ratings drop 40% from 2003 levels.
To maintain a fleeting hope that this year's finals won't set an all-time ratings low, ABC needs the series to go 6 or even 7 games. With the Cavs now down three games to none, that's a severely unlikely possibility.
Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-13-2007 @ 8:48PM
Jean said...
One of the reasons it's difficult to watch the finals on ABC is because I do not get ABC in HD and I've watched a majority of games the entire NBA season on available HD channels through Direct TV. The ABC broadcast is also less than entertaining compared to the other major channels (ESPN, TNT, NBATV)that carry games. Lastly, the Spurs are just a basic good Team without the flash of an individual star-which is the way it should be, but unfortunately individual soap operas generate more buzz.
6-14-2007 @ 6:26AM
hal c said...
I'm shooting from the hip here but it seems to me that a lot of pro sports ratings are headed lower as fans tire of gang type behavior by our athletes.
With the proliferation of specialty channels on cable and satellite viewers watch more of what specifically interest them and not just what the basic networks offer. People are still hooked on the tube, but their viewing habits have changed. As more and more video spreads across the Internet this dilution is likely to continue.