NBA: Low Ratings Mean More Losses?
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Mar 5 2010, 12:03 PM
Watching last night's game between the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers made me realize that one of the reasons why the NBA is losing more than $400 million this season is because of TV ratings and how few games during the season are "Must Watch" games. I'm sure TNT had a great ratings boost last night compared to other Thursdays, and I imagine that half the audience left before the Utah Jazz game started later on. So how do we get people interested again in watching?
I apologize if you expected me to give you the answer, because I don't have it. I just know that LeBron's number change is not enough to fix the NBA's economy. I also know that there are few guys out there like LeBron, Kobe, Wade, Melo and perhaps Durant who can bring excitement to meaningless games and make people want to watch.
League Pass subscribers like me? Disappointment. There is just one game per day that's on High Defintion, and I hate watching away games with the local team commentators as they only talk about their team and it becomes annoying. They should have both versions available.
Then, they make it very complicated to activate the Broadband subscription when you are a paying TV customer, and even after I have it then I have to deal with blackouts in cities when I travel, or not being able to use it at all when I'm overseas. I know they may have different deals in other territories when it comes to broadcasting games, but that is NOT our problem as fans.
My point is that the NBA is not doing anything to attract new viewers, and they are not doing anything to keep current engaged viewers happy. The losses continue to pile up, so unless someone there figures out a way to make every game as exciting as last night's Bryant vs. Wade matchup they will be in big trouble.
Watching last night's game between the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers made me realize that one of the reasons why the NBA is losing more than $400 million this season is because of TV ratings and how few games during the season are "Must Watch" games. I'm sure TNT had a great ratings boost last night compared to other Thursdays, and I imagine that half the audience left before the Utah Jazz game started later on. So how do we get people interested again in watching?
I apologize if you expected me to give you the answer, because I don't have it. I just know that LeBron's number change is not enough to fix the NBA's economy. I also know that there are few guys out there like LeBron, Kobe, Wade, Melo and perhaps Durant who can bring excitement to meaningless games and make people want to watch.
League Pass subscribers like me? Disappointment. There is just one game per day that's on High Defintion, and I hate watching away games with the local team commentators as they only talk about their team and it becomes annoying. They should have both versions available.
Then, they make it very complicated to activate the Broadband subscription when you are a paying TV customer, and even after I have it then I have to deal with blackouts in cities when I travel, or not being able to use it at all when I'm overseas. I know they may have different deals in other territories when it comes to broadcasting games, but that is NOT our problem as fans.
My point is that the NBA is not doing anything to attract new viewers, and they are not doing anything to keep current engaged viewers happy. The losses continue to pile up, so unless someone there figures out a way to make every game as exciting as last night's Bryant vs. Wade matchup they will be in big trouble.
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