NBA All-Star Game TV Ratings

On Sunday night the NBA had very solid TV ratings for the 2013 All-Star Game. The game followed a traditional format of NBA All-Star games. The first three quarters were centered around putting on a show for the fans. This includes big time dunks, no defense, a lot of three point jump shots and an emphasis on keeping everyone healthy. The last quarter picks up in intensity. Although players may not be going "all out", they seem to start trying to win the basketball game.

This years game in Huston was won by the western conference. The west can thank the MVP, Chris Paul, for putting a performance together that helped them win the game. Paul scored 20 points while dishing out 15 assists. Some other highlights of the game included Kobe blocking LeBron a couple times at the end of the game.

The television viewership for the All-Star game was a 4.6. This means that 4.6% of U.S. households were watching the game. This number represents a 13% increase from last year's game. Although this number seems rather impressive, it is important to note that last years game was played during the Academy Awards. Obvious viewership was lost due to this fact. This years rating is impressive though compared to recent history. Since 2005, this years All-Star game was the second highest rated game. 

The television markets that most viewed the game shouldn't come as a surprise to most NBA fans. The number one television market was Miami with a 12.6 rating. This is no surprise consider the Heat had the big three (James, Wade, and Bosh) as starters in the game and their coach leading the east. Following Miami in television ratings was San Antonio (9.9 rating), Memphis (9.7 rating), Los Angeles (9.4) and Oklahoma City (8.9 rating). All of these cities saw players from their home team in the All-Star game.

Final Thought

Although I would like to see the NBA All-Star game more competitive throughout the entire game, I enjoyed watching. The fourth quarter seemed like mostly genuine basketball. It is obvious that avoiding injury is a key component to the game, as it should be. 

After Major League Baseball made the change in their All-Star game allowing the winning league to have home field advantage in the world series, I became much more interested in watching. Baseball also has an advantage in the nature of the game. It is more difficult to give less than full effort playing baseball than basketball. In basketball, players can do creative dunks with the defense allowing them to do so. In a baseball game, the pitchers are not going to lob the baseball so a player can hit it out of the park. As far as implementing a rule that the winning conference of the NBA All-Star game could have home court in the NBA Finals, I think it would be interesting. This would force players to give 100% effort during the game. I wouldn't mind seeing that.

@dmrosen7

Dollars & Sense - MLB Playoff TV Ratings

No sweeps.  Only a few blow outs.  A few ninth inning comebacks.  Besides a couple of smaller market teams playing, the 2012 playoffs have been a great scenario for Major League Baseball.  Even if you take it back to the end of the regular season you will see division races that went down to the final day.  The drama has stayed the same just this time in the high stakes of the playoffs.

Although many people constantly compare the MLB’s television ratings to those of the National Football League, it is all about comparing apples to apples.  The NFL and MLB are two completely different entities.  We know that the NFL dominates the airwaves each on every week.  Let’s take a look at what baseball has been doing against, well, baseball.

The four league division series were broadcasted mainly on TBS with two games airing on MLB Network.  The games on TBS drew an average 2.4 rating.  In comparison, the same games last season drew an average 2.7 rating.  Last year three of the four series’ went the distance to a game five; this year all four series’ went to game five.  It is also worth noting that this was the first year of the wildcard play-in games in each league.  Some may have assumed that the addition of the play-in games may have raised interest of the playoffs as a whole, but it seemed to have more of an effect leading into the playoffs by putting greater emphasis on winning the division.

MLB Network’s two afternoon games were both successful and unsuccessful at the same time, depending on which perspective you look at the numbers from.  The two games saw an average 1.2 rating.  The rating was good in that the games were the highest viewed programs in network history, but they were bad in that they were only about half that of the TBS games.

Although the 2012 playoffs were ripe with storylines, those storylines did not show through in the collective ratings.  Oakland made the playoffs and finally sold out the Coliseum, but with San Francisco also in the playoffs, the Bay Area televisions may have been forced to choose sides.  According to USA Today, Cincinnati is ranked 35 in terms of media market size in the US.  It is also tough to ignore the ongoing feud between Washington and Baltimore about the splitting of the media market.  Could these have been reasons that dipped the ratings 0.3 points below last year’s mark?

It’s possible. We saw with game one of the American League Championship that there are indeed still baseball watchers out there.  The first game of the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees series saw a 6.8 rating.  The game was the highest rated of the day although there was no competition from the NFL.  We have also seen some huge local market numbers from the Detroit and St. Louis markets, which is a good sign.    

As the case typically goes, the true test for the MLB will come in the World Series.  World Series have been declining over the years, and the MLB needs to turn it around.  Last year the Cardinals and the Rangers went the distance with the Cardinals winning in game seven, but the game only received a 14.7 rating.  In the Mets-Red Sox World Series of 1986, their game seven saw a 38.9 rating.  Of course they are two different media markets, but the differences are still apparent. 

What can Major League Baseball do to increase their playoff ratings?  Well if I had the answer, then I would be employed in the Office of the Commissioner now wouldn’t I.  Do they run through the natural progression of sports and hope that the NFL popularity comes back down to earth sooner rather than later to even the television playing field?  Maybe.  Do they make a drastic change to their championship structure to make the stakes higher in each game?  No.  Even though the question is not answered, Major League Baseball does not seem concerned.  Their sponsors are still spending.  Most markets are still filling stadiums.  Television money is flowing.  Major League Baseball’s place in society is set, but can it translate into higher television ratings?  We will have to watch and see.

Follow Kevin Rossi on Twitter @kevin_rossi.

--Rating information from USA Today, TV By The Numbers, and ESPN

PGA Championship Preview

Although Kiawah Island is only 10 miles long and no more than 1.5 miles wide, the small island on the shores of South Carolina is set to host the PGA Championship this weekend. 

Kiawah Island’s small stature has proven to be a major obstacle at the PGA Tour’s final major.  Because of the lack of size, the PGA Tour had to limit ticket sales to around 25,000 per day.  When volunteers, course workers, media are factored in, the island will be forced to hold and transport about 30,000 people per day.  With one single two lane road to do so, there could potentially be major complications.  The course and the PGA Tour have worked on a comprehensive plan that should combat the issue.  According to Sports Business Journal, the course staff can park 1,600 cars per hour at maximum efficiency and they expect a traffic flow of about 1,400-1,500 at peak hours.  It’s going to be tough, but it could be done.

The PGA Tour’s final major will surely be a popular one with the season winding down and Tiger Woods coming in as the odds-on favorite to win.  Keegan Bradley looks to defend his 2011 PGA Championship crown while carrying the momentum of winning the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last weekend at Firestone.  Although it is great to have Keegan Bradley with momentum coming into the tournament, the PGA Championship’s TV ratings will be driven by Tiger Woods’ place in the field per usual.  You can bet the house that TNT and CBS executives will be cheering hard for Tiger to at least be in the hunt on Sunday and throughout.

The PGA Championship will be played at The Ocean Course; a beautiful 7676 yard par 72 course located along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.  Players could potentially face huge challenges with rain and wind.  This coming weekend will see a 40% chance of thunderstorms everyday and could experience some heavier wind gusts.

With the smaller ticket allotment, the high demand allowed the PGA Tour to charge premium prices for tickets.  Friday, Saturday, and Sunday single day tickets are sold out and single day Thursday tickets are $125.  A four day Championship Round ticket will get you access to all 4 days of competition but will run you $500.  For the more corporate tournament goers, there are one day Champions Club tickets for $700 with a 4 day Champions Club pass for $2700. 

Boasting a purse of $8,000,000 last year, Keegan Bradley took home $1,445,000 of that purse cashing in on a beautiful 4 day display of golf.  If we see anything like the battle between Bradley and Jason Dufner from last year, then the golf world is surely in for a treat regardless of whether Tiger Woods in the mix or not. 

Although it may be the least prestigious of the 4 PGA Tour majors, the PGA Championship is nothing to ignore.  The PGA Championship is hosted by one of the most beautiful course in America at The Ocean Club, and that southern hospitality will surely be felt. 

Tune in to TNT at 1 pm tomorrow to catch the start of the television coverage of the PGA Championship.  The final round will be broadcasted on CBS from 2-7pm on Sunday.  Don’t miss out on the PGA Tour’s last major of the year.

--Information from PGATour.com, Weather Channel, Sports Business Journal, PGAChampionship.com, KiawahIsland.com

TV's Tuned in for the Open Championship

Before the start of the Open Championship (British Open), Kevin Rossi wrote a preview post. Although he missed on the winner, he was correct in saying that Tiger would be in contention. Tiger Woods being in contention at a major championship is one of many factors that plays into TV ratings for the sport of golf. Other factors include the time of the tournament and the competitiveness of the tournament.

Tiger Effect
No matter what the public perception is of Tiger Woods, there is no denying that he is critical to the game of golf and critical to TV ratings. Tiger Woods missed half of the 2008 season due to a knee injury. In the tournaments that he missed while hurt, TV ratings feel 47% compared to 2007 when he played in those tournaments.

For the 2012 Open Championship, Tiger was a contender throughout. In 2011, Tiger announced that he would miss the Open Championship because of injuries. The TV ratings show the "Tiger Effect." The 2012 Open Championship saw TV ratings on Friday that were up 50% from 2011, ratings were up 67% on Saturday from 2011 and ratings were up 50% for Sunday's final round compared to 2011. There is no hiding what Tiger means to the game of golf.

Fans love the fist pump

Tournament Time of Day
Time of day is a considerable factor in the ratings of golf. The Open Championship is on very early in the morning (for I-95ers) with coverage beginning as early as 4:30AM. The West Coast is better off staying up all night if they want to watch coverage of the tournament. Then there are tournaments like the US Open, where location varies. When the tournament is held on the East Coast, we can expect the final round to end around 7pm eastern. When the tournament is held on the West Coast, we can expect a prime time finish for the east coast at around 10pm. The 2012 US Open took place on the West Coast and finished in prime time, the 2011 US Open took place on the East Coast and finished considerably earlier. The results of the time difference were clear. Ratings were up 29% this year from last year. 

Competitiveness of the Tournament

Competition in a tournament is a result of the players who are playing, the importance of the tournament and how close the top players on the leader board are to each other. The players who are in a tournament is an important factor. We saw earlier the effect of Tiger Woods on the game, in tournaments without key players ratings are naturally down. When it comes to the importance of a tournament it is obvious that viewers rather watch majors over any other tournament. Unless a record is on the line, people want to see a close tournament. When a leader takes over a tournament, people tend to tune out. In 2011, Rory McIlroy won the US Open. Rory blew away the field, but ratings were down 26% compared to the  2010 Open.

Final Thought
I consider myself a big golf fan, but a bigger Tiger fan. I was glued to the TV as Tiger had a shot at winning another major. Once Tiger was out of the tournament, I lost most of my interest. In fact, at that point I went and hit the links myself. Fortunately for the viewers still watching, the tournament had an exciting ending. Ernie Els played solid golf and made a clutch (ended up being REAL clutch) putt on the 18th green to post a score of 7 under. Els post of 7 under plus an Adam Scott collapse gave Ernie his fourth career major championship. Quite an accomplishment.

Ernie Els takes home the hardware for the 2012 Open Championship

 @dmrosen7




Statistics from ESPN.com, Forbes.com, USAtoday.com, CBSsports.com