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from variety

NBA ratings make huge gains
Adult males flock to ABC, ESPN, TNT
By JOHN DEMPSEY


National TV audiences are flocking back to the NBA, led by
double-digit gains in all the adult-male demographics on ABC, ESPN
and
TNT.


ESPN, which has earned season-to-date biggest bragging rights, is
averaging 1.46 million total viewers for 53 games, a 12% jump over
those watching for the same period for 2006-07. The network's three
most important demos are up dramatically: Up by 44% in men 18 to 34,
by 32% in M18-49 and by 28% in M25-54.


"It's the wild, wild West," said David Levy, president of Turner
Sports, referring to one of the tightest races in the history of the
Western Conference. Nine teams are jammed up within six games of one
another as the National Basketball Assn. season rolls into its final
six weeks before the playoffs.


Ed Desser, head of Desser Sports Media and a former top official in
the NBA, said, "The competition is wide open. There are no
prohibitive
favorites," which will keep fans biting their nails until the season
ends in mid-April.


A collection of factors is driving the revitalization of the league
among television viewers:


* the resurgence of big-market teams including the Los Angeles
Lakers and the Boston Celtics;


* a flexible schedule that allows ABC and ESPN to switch to games
involving playoff-bound teams;


* and the good will generated by having the Feb. 17 all-star game
in New Orleans.


"From a public-relations and community-relations standpoint, the NBA
gave a real boost to New Orleans and defused the negative publicity
that came out of last year's All-Star game in Las Vegas," said David
Carter, director of the Sports Business Institute at USC.


"A lot of people went to New Orleans for the game who wouldn't have
visited the city otherwise," Desser said, noting all those he talked
to were impressed at the city's comeback.


And don't rule out the influence of the 100-day writers strike,
Desser
said. The reruns that the networks were forced to schedule when they
ran out of originals, he noted, "lowered the ratings of the
competition," which boosted the Nielsen numbers for the exclusive
primetime doubleheader on TNT every Thursday and the non-exclusive
primetime games on ESPN (Wednesday, Friday and Sunday).


For nine broadcasts to date on Sunday afternoon, ABC is up by 11% in
total viewers, by 15% in both M18-34 and M18-49, and by 21% in M25-
54.


TNT's gain is a solid 5% among total viewers for 40 games, but the
increases are double digit the rest of the way: up by 22% in M18-34,
by 16% in M18-49 and by 15% in M25-54.