Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2019 9:06 am Post subject: NBA ratings down 22% on TNT and 19% on ESPN
Quote:
Both TNT and ESPN have shown double-digit drops so far to begin the 19-20 NBA season.
TNT's coverage is down 22 percent while ESPN has dropped by 19 percent.
The NBA's RSN numbers are down seven percent. While the Orlando Magic (+125 percent) and Atlanta Hawks (+43 percent) have seen gains, the Washington Wizards are down 57 percent and are the NBA team with the biggest drop. The Golden State Warriors are down 51 percent as they are without Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson after losing Kevin Durant to free agency.
More than half the NBA's games televised on ESPN and TNT so far this season have had one or more stars missing due to injury.
Tv ratings were also down last year. They are lucky as hell that it’s not time yet to negotiate TV rights until 2023. Those max contracts are about to go down.
Players better start taking those supermax deals offered in the next few years because max contracts where players are getting paid 40+ million is about to be over.
There was a great article by the Athletic a few weeks back that talked about how the NBA really needed the Chinese market to grow the game and revenues, because the tv ratings aren't that strong in the US. THe NBA is popular on social media, but it's nowhere close to being on the NFL level when it comes to tv viewing in the US. Hell the NBA barely beats the MLB in national tv ratings and in regional ratings they don't.
Tv ratings were also down last year. They are lucky as hell that it’s not time yet to negotiate TV rights until 2023. Those max contracts are about to go down.
Players better start taking those supermax deals offered in the next few years because max contracts where players are getting paid 40+ million is about to be over.
There was a great article by the Athletic a few weeks back that talked about how the NBA really needed the Chinese market to grow the game and revenues, because the tv ratings aren't that strong in the US. THe NBA is popular on social media, but it's nowhere close to being on the NFL level when it comes to tv viewing in the US. Hell the NBA barely beats the MLB in national tv ratings and in regional ratings they don't.
People have been spewing this stuff for twenty years. The reality is that the NBA's TV ratings peaked during the Jordan era. The TV contracts just keep going up. There are a number of reasons for this, but the biggest single reason is that the TV contracts are driven by advertiser revenue, which does not have a linear relationship to TV ratings. Don't be surprised if the next round of contracts are in the same ballpark, or even a little higher.
China is a bigger issue for the NBA, but it is not clear to what extent that situation will endure (or has endured).
Lakers matches are great because we don't play basing our attacks in threes, but who wants to watch two teams throwing threes without thinking or Harden flopping? Of course ratings go down.
Joined: 13 Jan 2002 Posts: 7936 Location: Lake Forest
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:26 am Post subject:
Aeneas Hunter wrote:
4stargeneralbulldog wrote:
Tv ratings were also down last year. They are lucky as hell that it’s not time yet to negotiate TV rights until 2023. Those max contracts are about to go down.
Players better start taking those supermax deals offered in the next few years because max contracts where players are getting paid 40+ million is about to be over.
There was a great article by the Athletic a few weeks back that talked about how the NBA really needed the Chinese market to grow the game and revenues, because the tv ratings aren't that strong in the US. THe NBA is popular on social media, but it's nowhere close to being on the NFL level when it comes to tv viewing in the US. Hell the NBA barely beats the MLB in national tv ratings and in regional ratings they don't.
People have been spewing this stuff for twenty years. The reality is that the NBA's TV ratings peaked during the Jordan era. The TV contracts just keep going up. There are a number of reasons for this, but the biggest single reason is that the TV contracts are driven by advertiser revenue, which does not have a linear relationship to TV ratings. Don't be surprised if the next round of contracts are in the same ballpark, or even a little higher.
China is a bigger issue for the NBA, but it is not clear to what extent that situation will endure (or has endured).
It's Cable/Satellite TV. Without live sports, there's no reason to carry a subscription. Everything else is available a la carte and probably cheaper.
They have to overpay to keep exclusivity or their whole customer base starts disappearing (more).
I think it's less to do with on the court play and more about the elitist attitude that many of the top players exude.
Also how the media defends that the regular season does not matter than much so they can defend KL's load management.
The load management thing adds to the elitist look. Who wants to watch one-percenters complain. It's watching rich CEO'S and heads of industry play sports. Not real appealing to the average person.
i think another big factor is "free" streaming has really picked up over the last year.
no longer buried in the dark web on virus laden web sites, you can find live streams of games on the first page of google with decent quality. _________________ (bleep) Kawhi
Even if you are an elitist multi-millionaire you should still act like you are an average person. For the sake of your business (NBA) if nothing else. Don't fart on fans figuratively or literally.
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 36086 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2019 6:43 am Post subject:
oaktown_dimond wrote:
This definitely has something to do with it. When's the last time the east was dominant?
LakersRGolden wrote:
You put the Clippers on 26 times, this is what you get.
But really, the east coast is dead except for Milwaukee so 60% of the country couldn't care less about the NBA.
What do you mean dead? 76ers, Celtics, and Raptors are all strong teams. _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
No Curry and no Durant can’t be helping. Two of the biggest stars in the league. And some of the biggest stars are still really early in their careers (thinking mostly of Giannis and Doncic here). And for a guy scoring so many points, Harden really isn’t fun to watch.
It doesn't help that some of the teams that were good in recent years have been mediocre this year. So even though the Lakers are now relevant, some teams like the Spurs and Warriors are just downright awful. The NYC market this year like most years are fielding two bad teams as well, if you manage to turn that market around the ratings will help the league.
last year they were low because they didn't include Raptors ratings. Unfortunately.
The ratings will go back up if there's a dominant team that emerges this year that the NBA can market as their best, and it remain that way for a few seasons.
When the league is "Everyone has a chance" the ratings are at their lowest.
So parity is a bad thing for the league. Consistent dominance/rivalry is a good thing.
The Cavs and the Warriors brought ratings because it was a consistent rivalry that was the only story even people that didn't watch basketball knew about. Much like the Celtics and the Lakers.
Last year, Toronto came out of nowhere, the Lakers were going nowhere, and the Warriors looked like they were going to repeat. But without the story.
Then Toronto happened, but their ratings weren't counted.
This year, there's no KD, no Klay, no Curry, no Russell on Golden State, and it's essentially a year where the only story in the West is the better team between the Clippers and the Lakers, but the Clippers are playing a long game and not like the top 1-2 teams in the West like the Lakers are.
And in the East it's very clear the Bucks are the team to beat.
So I think ratings will spike up once it looks like the NBA has a new rivalry in town. Whether it be Lakers/Bucks or Lakers/Celtics it will drive interest.
And after this season if things remain relatively the same, we'll have some consistent dominance for the NBA to get behind, depending on what team wins the Title this year and people remain healthy. _________________ How NBA 2K18 failed the All-Time Lakers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxMBYm3wwxk
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