Finals TV ratings discussion

[everdiso]

Turns out people like watching competitive series, not superteams.

[jg77]

People just got tired of watching LeBron lose.

[Percentsign]

Source?

Everything I heard indicates that this Finals had the lowest ratings in a while (for U.S. audience):

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/nba-finals-close-strong-tv-ratings-thursday-june-13-2019-1218363


Through five games, the Finals averaged 14.33 million viewers, down 18 percent year to year — due in part to the Raptors playing in Canada, whose audience isn't measured by Nielsen. The series has been setting ratings records for NBA games in that country.

[HeartDonor]

Imagine if they accounted for Canadian ratings as well.

Kawhi is the NBA's new poster boy.

[Matty]

And this is with one of the teams not from America

Can't wait to see the Canadian ratings.

[everdiso]

Source?

Everything I heard indicates that this Finals had the lowest ratings in a while (for U.S. audience):

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/nba-finals-close-strong-tv-ratings-thursday-june-13-2019-1218363


Through five games, the Finals averaged 14.33 million viewers, down 18 percent year to year — due in part to the Raptors playing in Canada, whose audience isn't measured by Nielsen. The series has been setting ratings records for NBA games in that country.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/254210/2019-NBA-Finals-Ratings-Up-From-2017-2018

[scrabbarista]

Turns out people like watching competitive series, not superteams.

2018 was the biggest Finals mismatch of my viewing lifetime - back to 1991. Don't @ me.

2019 was a very refreshing change! A far more enjoyable series, even though I was very casually rooting for the Warriors in both years.

Yes, a lot of weirdness went on, but even weirdness (as long as it isn't shady weirdness) is better than one of the teams being completely without hope of winning.

[Percentsign]

Source?

Everything I heard indicates that this Finals had the lowest ratings in a while (for U.S. audience):

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/nba-finals-close-strong-tv-ratings-thursday-june-13-2019-1218363


Through five games, the Finals averaged 14.33 million viewers, down 18 percent year to year — due in part to the Raptors playing in Canada, whose audience isn't measured by Nielsen. The series has been setting ratings records for NBA games in that country.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/254210/2019-NBA-Finals-Ratings-Up-From-2017-2018

*sigh*

A 6-game NBA Finals will always outdraw a 4-game sweep or a 5-game series (which is what we got in 2018 & 2017). The extra games is the only reason it averaged an overall higher series rating.

FYI:

https://awfulannouncing.com/ratings/nba-finals-game-6-posts-a-13-2-overnight-rating-down-from-game-5-and-middle-of-the-pack-relative-to-previous-game-6-ratings.html

Thursday’s Raptors-Warriors NBA Finals Game 6 earned a 13.2 overnight rating on ABC, down 6% from 2016 (14.1) and down 17% from 2015 (15.9), both of which were Warriors-Cavaliers matchups. There were no comparable games last year or in 2017.

The 13.2 is the lowest for a Game 6 in the NBA Finals since Celtics-Lakers in 2010 (12.3), but overall ranks a middle-of-the-road fifth out of the last ten (dating back to 2000). It trails the two Warriors-Cavaliers games, Spurs-Heat in 2013 (14.7) and Mavericks-Heat in 2011 (15.0).

[NinjaBro]

If they added the 10-15M Canadian viewers to the ratings number this will make this the biggest ever

[scrabbarista]

I mean, supposedly there were like 8 or 9 million Canadian viewers, iirc. It seems like that should count for a lot.

I know it isn't "American TV ratings," but at a certain point, isn't basing the Finals' popularity on American ratings kind of like evaluating a player based on a single, limited metric? Doesn't it totally miss the point?

[Luigi]

The long anticipated award for best sandwich I have eaten in that past 7 days goes to... nevermind, we should really only report on sandwiches great enough to get into the year categories, or at least best in a month.

[Deep1984]

I mean, supposedly there were like 8 or 9 million Canadian viewers, iirc. It seems like that should count for a lot.

I know it isn't "American TV ratings," but at a certain point, isn't basing the Finals' popularity on American ratings kind of like evaluating a player based on a single, limited metric? Doesn't it totally miss the point?

I think it peaked at 13.5 million Canadians viewers.

[Percentsign]

I mean, supposedly there were like 8 or 9 million Canadian viewers, iirc. It seems like that should count for a lot.

I know it isn't "American TV ratings," but at a certain point, isn't basing the Finals' popularity on American ratings kind of like evaluating a player based on a single, limited metric? Doesn't it totally miss the point?

Average of 3.5 million watched in Canada. An average of about 13 million in U.S.A. That adds to about 16-17 million. Still a drop in ratings.

[kb24k]

Source?

Everything I heard indicates that this Finals had the lowest ratings in a while (for U.S. audience):

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/nba-finals-close-strong-tv-ratings-thursday-june-13-2019-1218363


Through five games, the Finals averaged 14.33 million viewers, down 18 percent year to year — due in part to the Raptors playing in Canada, whose audience isn't measured by Nielsen. The series has been setting ratings records for NBA games in that country.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/254210/2019-NBA-Finals-Ratings-Up-From-2017-2018

*sigh*

A 6-game NBA Finals will always outdraw a 4-game sweep or a 5-game series (which is what we got in 2018 & 2017). The extra games is the only reason it averaged an overall higher series rating.

FYI:

https://awfulannouncing.com/ratings/nba-finals-game-6-posts-a-13-2-overnight-rating-down-from-game-5-and-middle-of-the-pack-relative-to-previous-game-6-ratings.html

Thursday’s Raptors-Warriors NBA Finals Game 6 earned a 13.2 overnight rating on ABC, down 6% from 2016 (14.1) and down 17% from 2015 (15.9), both of which were Warriors-Cavaliers matchups. There were no comparable games last year or in 2017.

The 13.2 is the lowest for a Game 6 in the NBA Finals since Celtics-Lakers in 2010 (12.3), but overall ranks a middle-of-the-road fifth out of the last ten (dating back to 2000). It trails the two Warriors-Cavaliers games, Spurs-Heat in 2013 (14.7) and Mavericks-Heat in 2011 (15.0).

This. Some people don’t like facts. The finals were ok from ratings perspective but nothing spectacular. For abc the Canadian ratings do not matter, and since espn and tnt are paying 3bn they are more important than the Canadian network.

[RCM88x]

I am completely shocked that more games drew more total viewers.

[Dominator83]

People like to see an empire fall

[LuckyLeprechaun]

I am completely shocked that more games drew more total viewers.

The whole point of tracking ratings is because of the financial implications it has for the NBA. If more games leads to more total revenue, that's good for the NBA and superior to 4 game sweeps because "people like dynasties." This settles the argument. Parity is better because it leads to longer series and thus more total revenue.

[Sixerscan]

I mean, supposedly there were like 8 or 9 million Canadian viewers, iirc. It seems like that should count for a lot.

I know it isn't "American TV ratings," but at a certain point, isn't basing the Finals' popularity on American ratings kind of like evaluating a player based on a single, limited metric? Doesn't it totally miss the point?

The point of the ratings is for advertisers to figure out how much they want to pay TV stations for ads. Different stations show in the finals in the US v. Canada. ESPN doesn't really care if a bunch of people are watching a channel they don't own, and the advertisers aren't going to pay ESPN based on people watching a different channel.

[scrabbarista]

I mean, supposedly there were like 8 or 9 million Canadian viewers, iirc. It seems like that should count for a lot.

I know it isn't "American TV ratings," but at a certain point, isn't basing the Finals' popularity on American ratings kind of like evaluating a player based on a single, limited metric? Doesn't it totally miss the point?

The point of the ratings is for advertisers to figure out how much they want to pay TV stations for ads. Different stations show in the finals in the US v. Canada. ESPN doesn't really care if a bunch of people are watching a channel they don't own, and the advertisers aren't going to pay ESPN based on people watching a different channel.

Right. My point is that this is ESPN/Disney news, not NBA or basketball news. (The next CBA doesn't need to restrict itself to American TV ratings.)

You could say it's representative of American viewership, which is fine. I just think if you do say that, you should at least mention
the enormous Canadian viewership that made this an exception among all Finals series ever.

[kb24k]

I am completely shocked that more games drew more total viewers.

The whole point of tracking ratings is because of the financial implications it has for the NBA. If more games leads to more total revenue, that's good for the NBA and superior to 4 game sweeps because "people like dynasties." This settles the argument. Parity is better because it leads to longer series and thus more total revenue.

Both can be true true. People like dynasties and longer series. If blazers were in the finals the ratings would have been atrocious. Same with lebron vs raptors. When the cavs warriors finals went to 6 games the ratings were much better than with the raptors