NBA is in trouble

[Woodsy]

read this in King's article today, stunning numbers....
"There are approximately 113 million television households in the United States, and the average rating for the NBA Championship Series showed that 6.9 million of them watched the series between Cleveland and San Antonio.
Remember the late-night Monday night opener on ESPN last year between Oakland and San Diego? Awful game. San Diego won, 27-0. It was pretty much over at the half, when the Chargers led 13-0 and the Raiders couldn't get out of their own way on offense. That game -- after a weekend that started with Thursday night football, went into Sunday afternoon football and Sunday night football, and had a Monday nighter before the second game on the West Coast -- started at 10:25 p.m. EST and ended at 1:14 a.m. Tuesday. And it was on cable TV, which gets a lower rating anyway because not every TV household in America is wired for cable.
The Raiders-Chargers debacle was seen by 7.9 million American TV households.
We all know football is king in this country, but if the best the NBA has to offer gets trounced by the worst the NFL has to offer ... well, the NBA is in more than a little trouble."
Wow, the finals cant outdraw a crap monday night team.

[iceman]

It wasn't all that long ago that the finals were televised late night on tape delay. Bird and Magic changed that but the pendulum is swinging back for sure.

[Steven S. Dallas]

The total imbalance between the conferences and the relative suckitude of the franchises in NY, LA, Boston, and Philly is a big problem for the NBA. Cleveland and San Antonio? You're not going to get a lot of casual viewers to stay up late to watch those franchises play.

[Woodsy]

well its come a long way since you and your brother gathered around the radio to listen to Most call the Celtics championships back in the day....

[grskier]

Like everything else... it all goes in cycles, lets just hope that the cycle doesn't swing too much more into the suckage.

[iceman]

well its come a long way since you and your brother gathered around the radio to listen to Most call the Celtics championships back in the day....

"Havlicek stole the ball! Havlicek stole the ball! Havlicek stole the ball!"

[Benny Profane]

Jeez, what a surprise. Read about the scene around the all star game this year in Vegas. That was a wonderful weekend for the people who didn't drive blinged up Hummers and wear their pants down to their knees. And listening to Kobe whine right now is just so, um, inspiring.

[mr_gyptian]

I think Tim Duncan is too much of a class act for the NBA or the people that comprise its current fan base.

[AKA]

Its not so bad, The Stanley Cup Playoffs posted the lowest prime time ratings in NBC history. Im not positive but I think there have been a few re-runs during NBCs history and every one of them beat the NHL finals.


heh.

[RootSkier]

Look at the basketball demographic compared to say, soccer.

Bball is on the way out for most of middle class America, and soccer is growing exponentially.

[atomicboy]

What is this NBA of which you speak? I thought the league folded when Jordan retired.

I just read this today as I was curious.

Specifics on the rights fee the league will receive are unclear, but sources said it will be higher than the current deal’s $765 million annual average. The likelihood that the new deal could bring in more money to the league would be significant in that it shows that the biggest leagues in the U.S. still are commanding higher rights fees. In the last couple of years, the NFL, MLB and NASCAR have worked out TV deals that pay them more money. Of course, these deals are not strictly TV deals anymore and include many digital media rights.

In addition, the new deal would mark a coup for the NBA, which has seen ratings level off recently. The length of the deal gives the league security while it continues to develop its own channel and make its content available on multiple platforms.

For ESPN/ABC and Turner, the deal guarantees multiple access points to branded sports programming that is one of the more consistent ratings performers in sports.

NBA Commissioner David Stern said negotiations are continuing, and that a new TV deal has not been signed yet.

“All I can say is that it remains our goal to try to have an agreement by the end of the Finals,” Stern said.

ESPN and Turner officials would not comment other than to say that the deal is not yet completed.

The NBA Finals begin on Thursday in San Antonio, with the last date of the Finals set for June 21 if the series goes seven games.

Specific contract details are scarce, but the new deals guarantee ABC/ESPN and Turner a bouquet of digital rights that will allow them to show game highlights via broadband, mobile and video-on-demand, sources confirmed. International rights also are included.

The TV partners also will gain rights to stream their network games on their Web sites and via video-on-demand soon after the games end. But streamed games will not be available live, and will be archived only for a limited time.

The biggest holdup appears to be over an additional package of digital rights that the NBA is making available that includes NBA.com and NBA TV. Turner executives were in NBA offices last week talking about that package, which would involve producing some aspect of those entities. One scenario being discussed has Turner increasing its involvement in the management, programming and operations of NBA TV, including sharing talent, infrastructure and distribution leverage. Already, Turner’s parent company, Time Warner, holds a small stake in NBA TV, and Turner operates a broadband channel, TNT Overtime, on NBA.com.

It is expected Turner will retain its exclusive NBA coverage on Thursday nights. As in the past, the package is believed to include WNBA games, as well. No details on the NBA Development League were available.

The amount of courtside signage inventory that will be given to the networks on national broadcasts — as opposed to going to the local teams — also wasn’t known.

The league would be left to negotiate its out-of-market package, NBA League Pass, which is up for renewal. The league has had talks with DirecTV and In Demand regarding that package.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOLDING COURT
Looking at the NBA’s most recent television rights deals:
Year Rights holder Total rights fee Avg. annual value
2002-2008 ABC/ESPN, Time Warner* $2.4 billion $400 million
2002-2008 TNT $2.19 billion $365 million
1998-2002 NBC, TNT/TBS $2.64 billion $660 million
1994-1998 NBC, TNT $1.1 billion $275 million

Source: SportsBusiness Journal archives
Note: The league has also had an agreement since 1994 with DirecTV and Dish Network for its NBA League Pass. The deals have been renewed several times although terms are unavailable.
* Time Warner owns a 2 percent stake in NBA TV

[Steven S. Dallas]

Look at the basketball demographic compared to say, soccer.

Bball is on the way out for most of middle class America, and soccer is growing exponentially.

Are you on a slow internet connection, or posting from 1977?

[Hutch]

Are you on a slow internet connection, or posting from 1977?

He is a luddite. Probably wearing a pager.

[Woodsy]

dude,
pagers are coming back
technology is cyclical.
everyone knows that.

[Steven S. Dallas]

Probably wearing a pager.

technology is cyclical.

"I hope you're happy with the choices you've made."

[Woodsy]

aren't you looking for some ironic accesssories?!?
I knoew you would dig it the most

[Hutch]

I'm expecting a call from 1983.

[atomicboy]

Seeing Alec made me think of this gem of a scene

[Grange]

The fact that the finals keep getting pushed later in the year probably has something to do with it. I don't think it was that long ago when the finals were over in Man and now they don't even start until mid June.

[RootSkier]

He is a luddite. Probably wearing a pager.

Rice cookers are so 1998.

[Buzzworthy]

I'm expecting a call from 1983.

When you get that call, tell the fucking fuck who stole my Atari I want it back or I will sick the illegal quick release bikes from NJ on him.

[mr_gyptian]

Look at the basketball demographic compared to say, soccer.

Bball is on the way out for most of middle class America, and soccer is growing exponentially.

Are you trying this new fad called uh, jogging. I believe it's jogging or yogging. it might be a soft j. I'm not sure but apparently you just run for an extended period of time. It's supposed to be wild.

-RB

[Hutch]

When you get that call, tell the fucking fuck who stole my Atari I want it back or I will sick the illegal quick release bikes from NJ on him.

Dude, you should just use a Ouija board to find out who stole it.

[Tippster]

Supposedly UFC is drawing much bigger audiences than Boxing, and beating Nationally broadcast Baseball games in key demographics as well...

Demographic Ratings Even More Impressive than Overall Rating

In the specific viewership demographics that the UFC and Spike TV make an effort to target so that they can boost their revenue with the sale of TV commercials, The Final Chapter performed even more impressively than the 3.1 overall rating would suggest.

In the 18-to-49-year-old male demographic, the previous all-time record for any complete UFC broadcast was a 2.9 rating for the live finale of TUF 3. The Final Chapter averaged a 4.5 rating in this demographic, far eclipsing the previous record.

In the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, which is the UFC's primary audience and is also the demographic that advertisers across many industries are struggling to reach, the previous all-time record for any complete UFC broadcast was 3.8 for the live finale of TUF 3. The Final Chapter averaged a whopping 6.0 rating in this demographic.

To put this number in perspective, the UFC broadcast averaged 1.6 million viewers in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic, which was greater than the 1.1 million viewers in the same demographic who watched the baseball playoff game between the A's and the Tigers.

While the average viewership of the baseball game was significantly higher when it comes to overall viewers (7.8 million to 4.2 million), there can be no doubt that drawing such a huge rating in the 18-to-34-year-old male demographic will open a lot of people's eyes and will bring many new advertisers into the mix for the UFC in the future.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/...=2765&zoneid=1

[RootSkier]

I've never been into boxing at all, but I am hardpressed to change the channel if there are MMA matches on.

Fucking savages.


edit: but it's all about the soccer.