Thunder bucks trend of large TV ratings decline
The Oklahoma City Thunder bucked a league-wide trend of declining television ratings and finished third among NBA teams’ local ratings for the 2016-17 season.
According to a report in SportsBusiness Journal, the Thunder averaged 6.50 for its telecasts on Fox Sports Oklahoma and surpassed the San Antonio Spurs for third place after finishing fourth last season.
The Thunder’s ratings were down 3 percent from last season, but the other three teams in the league’s top four experienced major declines. First-place Golden State (8.79) was down 10 percent while Cleveland (7.38) was down 21 percent and fourth-place San Antonio (5.78) slipped 34 percent. The Spurs were hampered by a Nielsen ratings glitch that wasn’t discovered until Jan. 7. After that date, they averaged 6.67, third-best in the league.
Overall, the NBA’s local TV ratings were down 14 percent from last year, according to SportsBusiness Journal, which surveyed 27 of the 30 teams (excluding Memphis, Utah and Toronto). Twenty teams experienced ratings decline with 15 seeing double-digit declines.
National ratings across ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV also were down 6 percent. TNT, which added 11 more games this season, and ABC posted their lowest regular-season averages since 2007-08.
The declines come in the first season of the league’s new nine-year, $24 billion rights extension with ESPN and Turner Sports. NFL draft coverage ESPN’s NFL draft coverage will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday with the first hour airing with limited commercial interruptions for the fourth year in a row. Rounds 2 and 3 are Friday night starting at 6 p.m. The draft will conclude with Rounds 4-7 on Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m.
Trey Wingo, host of “NFL
Live,” will host all seven rounds for the first time, replacing Chris Berman. He will be joined by Mel Kiper
Jr., Jon Gruden and Louis Riddick in Round 1 and Kiper, Riddick and Todd McShay for rounds 2-7. Chris Mortensen,
Adam Schefter and Suzy Kolber also will be part of ESPN’s coverage from Philadelphia.
Rich Eisen will host the NFL Network’s coverage from the Philadelphia Art Museum. He will be joined by analysts Mike Mayock,
Daniel Jeremiah and Stanford coach David Show, who is back for his sixth draft. The network also will have a set at the Franklin Institute featuring Charles
Davis and Steve Mariucci.
Deion Sanders is back as the on-set interviewer. Short takes
Drake, a platinum-selling recording artist and entertainer, will host the first-ever NBA Awards show at 8 p.m. June 26 on TNT. The league’s top awards, including MVP, will be announced on the program
The Dallas Cowboys will make at least four appearances on Fox’s Sunday doubleheader game, which it bills as “America’s Game of the Week,” even though it’s not on every week. Dallas will appear against visiting Green Bay (week 5), at Washington (Week 8), at Atlanta (Week 10) and at New York Giants (Week 14). The series opens with Green Bay hosting Seattle at 3:25 p.m. Sept. 10.
The Boston Red Sox will host the defending champion Chicago Cubs at 7 p.m. on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball.” Dan Shulman will call the game with analysts
Jessica Mendoza and Aaron Boone and reporter Buster Olney. “Baseball Tonight” will be at Fenway Park with former Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira and analyst Tim Kurkjian. ESPN also has added the Baltimore at Boston game at 6 p.m. Monday to its telecast schedule.