Boston Sports Media Watch

From ABC/ESPN:

ABC’s NBA Finals Deliver Highest Viewership for Game 6 Since 2000
Finals up 51% From 2007
All Six Finals Telecasts Enable ABC to “Win the Night” Among All Networks

Game 6 of the NBA Finals on ABC – the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers to win the championship – last night, Tuesday, June 18, was the highest-rated and most-viewed Finals Game 6 since 2000. This year’s Game 6 averaged 16,878,000 viewers (P2+), 12,085,000 households and delivered a 10.7 rating, compared to Game 6 in 2000 (Pacers/Lakers), which averaged 22,396,000 viewers (P2+), 14,854,000 households and a 14.7 rating.

The 2008 Game 6 outperformed Game 6 in 2006 (there was no Game 6 last year), which averaged 15,710,000 viewers for Dallas at Miami, an increase of seven percent.

ABC marked its top-rated Tuesday in nearly seven months among adults 18-49 since November 27, 2007. The network posted its strongest Tuesday across each of the key men demographics in two and a half years — since January 3, 2006, men 18-34 (5.6), men 18-49 (5.7) and men 25-54 (5.9)

ABC’s 2008 NBA Finals Game 6 overshadowed its primetime competition, ranking as Tuesday’s No. 1 TV program in viewers and across each of the key adult demographics: adults 18-34 (6.9), adults 18-49 (6.9) and adults 25-54 (7.1). For the sixth consecutive broadcast, the NBA Finals sparked ABC to “win the night” among all television networks. The NBA Finals averaged more homes and viewers than any other show, with ABC winning primetime overall among all networks.

The six Finals broadcasts averaged a 9.3 rating, up 51 percent over the four-game series last year (6.2). The 2008 Finals ranks as the highest-rated and most-viewed Finals since 2004 (Lakers/Detroit, 11.4).

Moreover, ABC ranked #1 during the week of June across each of the key adult demographics (adults 18-34/adults18-49/adults 25-54). Leading the week by 14 percent in Adults 18-49, ABC snapped Fox’s 22-week winning streak — beginning in early January. In addition, the Finals on ABC also registered as the Top 3 most-watched programs overall for the week .

Popularity: 17% [?]

From ABC/ESPN:

Based on fast national ratings, Game 5 of the best-of-seven NBA Finals on ABC – the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics – last night, Sunday, June 15, averaged 17,257,000 viewers (P2+), an increase of 21 percent compared to Game 5 in 2006 (there was no Game 5 last year), which averaged 14,318,000 viewers for Dallas at Miami. The Lakers/Celtics game averaged 11,393,000 households, an increase of 13 percent over 10,049,000 households in 2006, and a 10.1 rating, up 11 percent over a 9.1 in 2006. It was the most-watched NBA Finals Game since Game 7 of 2005 (18,997,000 viewers).

Through five broadcasts, the 2008 NBA Finals are averaging a 9.0 rating, up 45 percent over the four-game series last year (6.2).

Los Angeles avoided elimination with a 103-98 victory that sends the series back to Boston for Game 6 with the Celtics leading 3-2 on ABC tomorrow, Tuesday, June 17 Coverage will begin at 8:30 p.m. with GMC NBA Countdown at 8:30 p.m. The games are also heard nationally on ESPN Radio.

For the fifth consecutive broadcast, the NBA Finals sparked ABC to “win the night” among all television networks. The NBA Finals averaged more homes and viewers than any other show, with ABC winning primetime overall among all networks. Game 5 was the most-watched program on television since the season finale of American Idol (May 21). Excluding the Academy Awards evenings, ABC garnered its highest Sunday numbers across key male demographics in more than two years (best since February 6, 2006 (Super Bowl XL) in Men 18-34; and best since March 12, 2006 in Men 18-49 and Men 25-54.

Additionally, viewership peaked in the 11:30 p.m. to midnight (8:30 - 9 p.m. PT) half hour. Following are half-hour household rating details:

Broadcast half-hours (all times ET) HH Rating
9:04-9:30 p.m. 7.6
9:30-10 p.m. 9.1
10-10:30 p.m. 9.3
10:30-11 p.m. 10.0
11-11:30 p.m. 11.2
11:30-11:55 p.m. 12.5

Popularity: 10% [?]

From ABC/ESPN

Tuesday night’s Game 3 of the best-of-seven NBA Finals on ABC – the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics – was the most-viewed in the series to date, averaging 14,509,000 viewers (P2+), an increase of 53 percent compared to last year (9,492,000 viewers for Cleveland at San Antonio, Game 3). The Lakers/Celtics game averaged 10,338,000 households, an increase of 45 percent over 7,147,000 households in 2007, and a 9.2 rating, up 44 percent over last year’s 6.4 rating. The Lakers won the game 87-81, with the Celtics now leading the series 2-1.

Through three broadcasts, the 2008 NBA Finals are averaging 13,801,000 viewers, up 52 percent over last year’s 9,078,000 viewers. The Lakers/Celtics series is averaging 9,901,000 households, an increase of 46 percent, and an 8.8 rating, up 44 percent over last year’s 6.1 rating.

For the third consecutive broadcast, the NBA Finals led ABC to “win the night” among all television networks. The NBA Finals averaged more homes and viewers than any other show, with ABC winning primetime overall among all networks. The network marked its highest-rated Tuesday since January 2006 among men 18-34 and since June 2006 among men 18-49 and 25-54.

The Lakers/Celtics broadcast was the network’s highest-rated and most-viewed NBA Finals Game 3 since Lakers/Detroit Pistons in 2004 (10.5 rating; 11,412,000 households; 16,213,000 viewers).

Among key demos, the NBA led the competition among (demo impressions in parenthesis):

Men 18-34 (2,737,000) Adults 18-34 (4,226,000)
Men 18-49 (5,060,000) Adults 19-49 (7,887,000)
Men 25-54 (4,893,000) Adults 25-54 (7,637,000)

Viewership peaked in the 11 p.m. to midnight ET (8-9 p.m. PT) hour. Following are quarter-hour household rating details:

Broadcast quarter-hours (all times ET) HH Rating

9:04-9:15 p.m. 6.4
9:15-9:30 p.m. 7.5
9:30-9:45 p.m. 8.2
9:45-10 p.m. 8.7
10-10:15 p.m. 9.4
10:15-10:30 p.m. 8.1
10:30-10:45 p.m. 8.3
10:45-11 p.m. 9.5
11-11:15 p.m. 10.2
11:15-11:30 p.m. 11.0
11:30-11:45 p.m. 11.3
11:45 p.m.-12 a.m. 10.8

Additionally, the ESPN.com NBA section generated nearly 5.6 million page views – an increase of 67 percent over the comparable day last year. The NBA section is averaging five million page views through Game 3, up 79 percent over 2007.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Well, we now know that Bennett Salvatore is one of the officials working the Lakers/Celtics game tonight. Here are the ref assignments for game three. Joey Crawford and Mark Wunderlich are the other two officials. The league apparently couldn’t have picked a more fitting crew for this crucial game three of the series. Tim Donaghy apparently had another commitment.

It will be interesting to see if the ABC announcing crew focuses in on this aspect of the game. One would think that the league wouldn’t wish for attention to be brought to the officials in this manner, but given all the talk over the last few days it is inevitable. I really am curious to see how Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson react to how things unfold on the court. They’ve shown that they will be candid about calls made by the officials, and their commentary could very interesting tonight.

It seems like no other sport, the NBA has to deal with the perception that the referees influence the outcome of the game. NFL officials might make a crucial pass interference call which can impact a drive, but things seem to generally even out in the course of the game. In the NBA however, whether it is how the referees  decide to call certain fouls or plays, or just a single big blown call in the course of a game, the league definitely has a problem in this area. It’s annual rite of spring that the NBA has a huge blown call in the playoffs that changes the outcome of a game.

The Lakers will be pumped up for this game, and it is crucial for the Celtics not to lose control of this one early on. The fouls are going to be called, but the Doc Rivers needs to tell his guys not to change their style of play. The bench is going to be a huge factor. If Ray Allen picks up a couple quick fouls, James Posey will have to take over on Kobe, when he gets his three fouls, we might just see Tony Allen in there. The same thing will apply to Gasol. Perkins, Brown, Powe, even Big Baby Davis could see time in the middle.

This game seems to be stacked so highly in the Lakers favor that it would not surprise me at all to see the Celtics win. Yeah, you read that right.

Check out CelticsLinks.com for more stories on the Celtics/Lakers game from throughout today and this evening.

• If you’re looking for some football talk this afternoon, I’ve got a couple of links for you, Mike Reiss has a new edition of the Ask Reiss Mailbag, and over on Patriots Daily I’ve got some June Thoughts on the team following last weekend’s minicamp.
   
• The Big Show was giving Butch Stearns a hard time this afternoon because supposedly Stearns got a call from someone who told him he was taking a tour of Fenway Park and said he saw Barry Bonds taking batting practice under the stands. Stearns went on the air over the weekend on WEEI with the report. Someone called shortly thereafter to explain that what he said was impossible. Tours do not go anywhere near the batting cages.

Popularity: 11% [?]

From ABC/ESPN:

Based on fast national ratings, last night’s Game 2 of the best-of-seven NBA Finals on ABC – the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics – averaged 13,491,000 viewers (P2+), marking an increase of 58 percent compared to last year (8,551,000 viewers for Cleveland at San Antonio). The Lakers/Celtics game averaged 9,535,000 households, an increase of 53 percent over 6,235,000 households in 2007, and an 8.5 rating, up 52 percent over last year’s 5.6 rating. The Celtics won the game 108-102 to lead the Lakers 2-0 in the series.

For the second consecutive broadcast, the NBA Finals sparked ABC to “win the night” among all television networks. The NBA Finals averaged more homes and viewers than any other show, with ABC winning primetime overall among all networks. Excluding the Academy Awards evenings, ABC garnered its highest Sunday numbers across key male demographics in more than two years (best since March 12, 2006 in Men 18-34; best since March 21, 2006 in Men 18-49 and Men 25-54).

The Lakers/Celtics broadcast was the network’s highest-rated and most-viewed NBA Finals Game 2 since Lakers/Detroit Pistons in 2004 (10.7 rating; 11,563,000 households; 16,129,000 viewers).

Among key demos, the NBA led the competition among (demo impressions in parenthesis):

Men 18-34 (2,358,000) Adults 18-34 (3,708,000)
Men 18-49 (4,656,000) Adults 19-49 (7,258,000)
Men 25-54 (4,685,000) Adults 25-54 (7,204,000)

Additionally, viewership peaked in the 11 p.m. to midnight (8-9 p.m. PT) hour. Following are half-hour household rating details:

Broadcast half-hours (all times ET) HH Rating
9:04-9:30 p.m. 7.2
9:30-10 p.m. 8.3
10-10:30 p.m. 8.3
10:30-11 p.m. 8.7
11-11:30 p.m. 9.1
11:30-11:55 p.m. 9.1

Game 3 of the series will air on ABC Tuesday, June 10, with coverage starting with GMC NBA Countdown at 8:30 p.m.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Here’s a quick look back at the coverage of last night’s first game of the NBA Finals, and some people that stuck out to me, both good and bad: 

Approvals:

Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy, ABC: These guys are the best duo I’ve heard on national NBA broadcasts in a long time. They’ve got a shared history, so they can rib each other, but they also give us good insight into the game, and are candid on what they see out on the court. If the refs make a bad call, they say so. If a player makes a dumb play, they point it out. They tell Mike Breen (see below) when he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Gary Tanguay, CSN: He drives me nuts on the WBCN Patriots Radio pregame shows by constantly pushing his panic-driven storylines. On these Celtics telecasts, he’s been a pleasure to watch on the pre and post game shows. Last night was no exception, as he guided the show nicely between segments, and didn’t resort to the “serious, concerned voice, bordering on a full fledged meltdown” act that is wearisome on the Patriots shows.

Chad Finn, Boston.com: What a live blog should look like. Bill Simmons may have pioneered this concept, but few do it better than Finn right now. Last night, I actually checked in on the blog during the game, which is something I never do. Having attempted the live blog concept in the past, I know that it is harder that it seems it would be to pull off.

Disapprovals

Mike Breen, ABC: I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but he bugs the hell out of me. Whether it’s the constant references to Rajon Rondo being up and down, or his inability to just call the game and let Jackson and Van Gundy give the analysis, he is the weakest link in the ABC broadcast team.

Ryen Russillo, CSN: One of several people who threw it out there after the game that perhaps Paul Pierce was faking the knee injury, or at least exaggerating the severity of it. He wasn’t alone in suggesting this theory (we’re looking at you, Tom Curran), but this was unlike the usually solid Russillo to go this route.

Popularity: 19% [?]

The Hollywood Reporter has a pretty good look at the NBA finals from the broadcasting perspective. The authors, Steven Zeitchik and Paul J. Gough look at the strategy for ESPN and ABC in putting together the broadcasts of the series, which starts on Thursday night.

There will be a heavy nostalgic angle pushed to the viewer, with the purpose of “educating” the average fan about the storied Celtics/Lakers rivalry. Expect plenty of shots of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in the intros and bumpers around commercial breaks.

ESPN will televise a three-hour primetime SportsCenter NBA Finals Special devoted to Game 6 of the 1987 NBA Finals – the last time the Celtics and Lakers met in The Finals – tonight at 7 p.m.  The telecast will include game footage, interviews with participants, and a look ahead at the 2008 NBA Finals.

The Hollywood Reporter article also quotes USC professor and sports consultant David Carter as saying that the NBA’s strategy in the past of hitching their wagons to individual stars hasn’t gone so well for them, and that “This is a great opportunity for the NBA to pull back and focus on team brands again. The league can reposition its marketing messaging.”

In addition to the league, the article states that this is a crucial series for the broadcasters as well, who sunk $7.6 billion into their last TV deal with the league and need to see some ratings juice. They could get it.

Some forecasts estimate the household rating for the finals between a 10 and 12, depending on how close the games are and how long the series goes. If it hits the high end of that range — a result execs say is plausible given the ratings rebound during the regular season — it would mark the best number since the Lakers-Philadelphia 76ers series of 2001 (12.1) though still well shy of the midteen numbers the ’90s Bulls and ’80s Lakers series regularly generated. (The 1987 Lakers-Celtics Finals, for instance, averaged a 16.7 household rating.)

The expectation also ups the pressure on ABC to make this a blowout year. “If the numbers don’t get into the double digits, they won’t have the excuse of being able to say they didn’t have the right teams,” one sports insider said.

As with the Eastern Conference finals, each ABC broadcast of the best-of-seven NBA Finals will be called by Mike Breen with analysts Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy and reporter Michele Tafoya. Stuart Scott will host the pre-game show, originating from the site of each game, with analysts Jon Barry and Michael Wilbon.

(Can you remember one thing Michael Wilbon said in the ECF? I thought not. It’s like Tony Kornheiser on Monday Night Football. Apparently these guys are good on Pardon The Interruption and not much else…)

Here is the TV schedule for the series:

The Finals on ABC Schedule (Best of 7)
*** All Game Broadcasts at 9 p.m. ET ***

Date                               Game
Thu., June 5 Game 1: L.A. Lakers at Boston
Sun., June 8 Game 2: L.A. Lakers at Boston
Tues, June 10 Game 3: Boston at L.A. Lakers
Thu., June 12 Game 4: Boston at L.A. Lakers
Sun., June 15 Game 5: Boston at L.A. Lakers*
Tue., June 17 Game 6: L.A. Lakers at Boston*
Thu., June 19 Game 7: L.A. Lakers at Boston*
* if necessary

Here are a few Celtics/NBA Finals links for the afternoon:

Chad Finn nails a three pointer and gets fouled at the buzzer with his post on the 22 years of Celtics history since their last NBA championship. A must read.

After dogging the Celtics all season, Ian Thomsen comes around and thinks that the C’s have a better chance of winning this series than many experts think they do.

Bill Simmons debunks 15 myths regarding the Celtics/Lakers rivalry, including the topic of whether it actually is a rivalry at all.

Greg Boeck talks with Jerry West about Celtics/Lakers. The former Lakers player and executive has a lot of history in this series.

The ESPN TrueHoop Blog reviewed the two Celtics/Lakers games this season and came away with some interesting conclusions.

Popularity: 21% [?]