1 Billion+ people will be watching the Hornets this year (2015)

[anthoang]

Over 1 Billion people will watch the Hornets this year -- and i'm not exaggerating.
Fans who show up at Time Warner Arena will be seen by people all over the world.

I did not blindly come up with this figure. With some research,

Population of China: 1.35 Billion
Population of France: 66 Million
Population of Taiwan: 24 Million
Asian Americans: 15 Million
Charlotte: 793,000
UConn alumni: 75,000
NC alumnis: 90,000
Die-hard MKG fans: -1,000

This amounts to a total reach of 1,455,957,000 people who could be watching the Hornets this season.

[BlackOutBuzz]

Now if only anyone outside of Charlotte could actually find them on television.

[Mystical Apples]

Over 1 Billion people will watch the Hornets this year -- and i'm not exaggerating.
Fans who show up at Time Warner Arena will be seen by people all over the world.

I did not blindly come up with this figure. With some research,

Population of China: 1.35 Billion
Population of France: 66 Million
Population of Taiwan: 24 Million
Asian Americans: 15 Million
Charlotte: 793,000
UConn alumni: 75,000
NC alumnis: 90,000
Die-hard MKG fans: -1,000

This amounts to a total reach of 1,455,957,000 people who could be watching the Hornets this season.

You'll get a larger bump from Wisconsin fans than Uconn. Loyal fan base with a rookie on the team - and a huge alumni base.

[Appwrangler]

X ( Number of games on NBATV + Number of games on ESPN) = 0

Actual answer will probably be in between, so somewhere between zero and a billion and a half. ('K last game in April is on ESPN but still.)

[yosemiteben]

I did not blindly come up with this figure. With some research,

Population of China: 1.35 Billion

Literally every single person in China will watch the Hornets?

[anthoang]

I did not blindly come up with this figure. With some research,

Population of China: 1.35 Billion

Literally every single person in China will watch the Hornets?

Yes, everyone in China watched Yao Ming at least once. 300 Million watched him religiously.

[fatlever]

Now if only anyone outside of Charlotte could actually find them on television.

Yes, and while 1 billion people watch the Hornets on the Internet, half of North Carolina won't even have access to their games on local cable. The Bobcats/Hornets have had the absolute worst local cable coverage since the return in 2004. You could watch the Hornets on local cable TV in more cities in NC and SC back in 1990 than you can today, by a HUGE margin. Its really pathetic. Not to mention that those who live outside the magical 90? mile radius but are still living in NC/SC cannot watch the Hornets on league pass due to blackout rules. So if the local cable station doesnt pick up the Hornets games, people in many places in the state have 0 legal options to see the games. Its why so many local posters on this site watch games on the Internet.

Luckily I live in Charlotte (Metro), so I get games on local cable. I am one of the lucky few.

[BlackOutBuzz]

Per my phone's GPS I'm currently 103 miles out of Charlotte, so your mile estimation seems accurate. Yet I'm blacked out on league pass for being too local.

Fortunately I discovered the Fox Sports Go app last year and can stream that via Chromecast.

[Mystical Apples]

Now if only anyone outside of Charlotte could actually find them on television.

Yes, and while 1 billion people watch the Hornets on the Internet, half of North Carolina won't even have access to their games on local cable. The Bobcats/Hornets have had the absolute worst local cable coverage since the return in 2004. You could watch the Hornets on local cable TV in more cities in NC and SC back in 1990 than you can today, by a HUGE margin. Its really pathetic. Not to mention that those who live outside the magical 90? mile radius but are still living in NC/SC cannot watch the Hornets on league pass due to blackout rules. So if the local cable station doesnt pick up the Hornets games, people in many places in the state have 0 legal options to see the games. Its why so many local posters on this site watch games on the Internet.

Luckily I live in Charlotte (Metro), so I get games on local cable. I am one of the lucky few.

That's depressing. From an economic perspective I don't understand how alienating viewership is the right thing when digital content is driving future revenues.

[RollingWave]

Now if only anyone outside of Charlotte could actually find them on television.

The local television channels in Taiwan and China are going to board cast all 82 games AFAIK

Oh you mean people living in Carolina outside of Charlotte..... welp

[fatlever]

Now if only anyone outside of Charlotte could actually find them on television.

Yes, and while 1 billion people watch the Hornets on the Internet, half of North Carolina won't even have access to their games on local cable. The Bobcats/Hornets have had the absolute worst local cable coverage since the return in 2004. You could watch the Hornets on local cable TV in more cities in NC and SC back in 1990 than you can today, by a HUGE margin. Its really pathetic. Not to mention that those who live outside the magical 90? mile radius but are still living in NC/SC cannot watch the Hornets on league pass due to blackout rules. So if the local cable station doesnt pick up the Hornets games, people in many places in the state have 0 legal options to see the games. Its why so many local posters on this site watch games on the Internet.

Luckily I live in Charlotte (Metro), so I get games on local cable. I am one of the lucky few.

That's depressing. From an economic perspective I don't understand how alienating viewership is the right thing when digital content is driving future revenues.

Well, for the first few years, the problem was entirely the fault of the Bobcats. Awful owner Bob Johnson created CSET, a sport channel where the Bobcats would be the featured. Unfortunately, very few people had access to that channel and it was only available to Time Warner customers, a deal signed by Johnson. So satellite customers in Charlotte were screwed and anyone in the area who had Comcast or Comporium in the Carolinas were screwed.

Then, after Johnson was gone the Bobcats signed on with Fox Sports South, a much better deal that had the potential to reach more customers. Problem was, the Bobcats brand was so toxic at that point, few of the local cable providers were willing to pay the money to have access to the Bobcats games.

At this point, the Hornets claim the situation is entirely out of their hands. Every cable provider in NC and SC has the option to pay for the rights to broadcast Hornets games, but many still aren't interested. The blackout issues with League Pass are also out of their hands, since that is an NBA rule.

Until the other local cable providers in the area get enough pressure from viewer to add Hornets games, nothing will change. And it will probably take a marquee superstar or a consistent winning team in order to make that change happen.

[Liver_Pooty]

The population of planet Earth 'could' be watching the Hornets this season.

[13th Man]

Now if only anyone outside of Charlotte could actually find them on television.

The local television channels in Taiwan and China are going to board cast all 82 games AFAIK

Oh you mean people living in Carolina outside of Charlotte..... welp

I wonder how much revenue is made by the NBA through this television contract, the stations must have to pay big bucks for these rights.

I'd like to add that I don't think Jeremy Lin is as popular as Yao Ming in China, Yao is actually a Chinese citizen born and raised. So your billion people viewership number may not be true. I think that Lin might be more popular than Yao amongst North American Asian fans though.

[Appwrangler]

The population of planet Earth 'could' be watching the Hornets this season.

And, with a slight broadcast delay, the population of other planets. At least Matt Damon for sure.

[RealHusky]

If Linsanity breaks out, you can expect a ton of people watching Hornets in China. Like other poster said, 300M people watched Yao Ming games.

Jeremy Lin is more at a height many Chinese kids can reach at 6'3" and he is an exciting player. If he plays well. Hornets could be huge in China and that would be a great investment for MJ.

Let's hope Jeremy and UCONN boys will do well this season. Jeremy could help make all the Charlotte teammates rich with Chinese endorsements.

[Flip Murray]

X ( Number of games on NBATV + Number of games on ESPN) = 0

Actual answer will probably be in between, so somewhere between zero and a billion and a half. ('K last game in April is on ESPN but still.)

damn man. between 0 and 1.5 billion? don't step too far out on a limb with that prediction.

[Vae Victus]

Haha, the only people following Lin seriously right now are the die hard fans and open minded Charlotte fans curious on Lin's fit on the squad. The casuals only watched en masse during Linsanity and a bit after that when he started to taper off due to Melo coming back and then injury. Interest went up a bit when he swapped teams expecting to be the "man" until Harden came to town and took whatever potential shine he was looking for in HOU. Got another bump when he came into LA with the die hards hoping he'd get his "mojo" back, but Byron Scott and Kobe wasn't having none of that.

The only way a massive number of people will tune back in is if Lin puts up All-Star game consideration or better numbers of 18 pts, 9 assists, 4 rbs, 2 steals, 1 block, <2 TO, on excellent efficiency, and solid defense. Thus Linsanity Part 2 hype will grow and the massive money hype train will come back in full force. MJ will look like a goddamn genius and the franchise value will jump if Lin is resigned long termed and featured as "the man".

Can he get numbers like that? Absolutely... if he plays 36+ mins, the team runs ALOT of PnR in a fast and loose system for him, and he shoots at an unheard of rate. Will he? Highly doubtful, as it's currently Kemba's and Big Al's squad right now, and thus the focus is not pumping up Lin, but making the team improvement overall.

JLin fans simply hope that the team does well and Lin is a big part of it and plays well himself to finally get some goddamn respect around the league.

[Diop]

so this should be good for streams, yes?

[Hornet Mania]

so this should be good for streams, yes?

I'm watching all our blowouts in Mandarin from now on. It's my go-to excuse to justify staying up crazy-late to watch the worst beatdowns.

2014-2015:
Wife: How'd it go last night?
Me: We lost by 30
Wife: You stayed up until 5am to watch them lose by 30? What is wrong with you?
Me: I...I don't know.

2015-2016
Wife: How'd it go last night?
Me: We lost by 30
Wife: You stayed up until 5am to watch them lose by 30? Are you insane?
Me: But I watched it in Mandarin! I'm broadening my horizons, the Chinese are the next superpower, think of the big picture!

[JDR720]

The population of planet Earth 'could' be watching the Hornets this season.

dont forget whatever planet PJ is from.