The nation’s NBA fans love the Nuggets.
And the Lakers. And the intense overall playoff action. The Nuggets’ loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday was the most- watched basketball game (NBA and college) in ESPN’s 30-year history.
More than 8.1 million viewers watched all or part of the Lakers’ 105-103 victory.
The second-most watched basketball game in ESPN history?
The Nuggets’ 106-103 victory at the Staples Center on Thursday, which produced more than 7.9 million viewers in the cable universe.
Other numbers of note:
• This two-game Nielsen ratings audience average was 36 percent higher than the first two of the 2008 Western Conference finals, aired on TNT, featuring the Lakers and the Spurs.
• During the first two Nuggets- Lakers games, the coveted 18-to-49 male demographic was 25 percent higher than last year.
Still to come are national ratings results of Saturday’s game in Denver, broadcast on ABC, a battle available to a larger audience.
Also being tabulated: a specific breakdown on Denver area audience figures.
While most local attention is on the Western Conference finals, the Eastern Conference finals, airing on TNT, also are scoring high on Niel- sen rating machines.
This dramatic, competitive atmosphere is debunking the ancient television theory that to get strong national audience ratings, sports teams must reside in the major population centers.
Los Angeles, the nation’s second- largest TV market, is the only competing city in the top 10. Cleveland is 17th, followed by Denver (18th) and Orlando (19th).
Three’s a crowd.
My major question regarding the ESPN-ABC telecasts of the NBA playoffs:
Why is Mike Breen part of the broadcast coverage?
This comment is not made to denigrate Breen’s proven professionalism.
But three at courtside is one too many, particularly when telecasts feature outspoken broadcasters like Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, who mix play-by-play with ongoing, strong commentary.
Breen too often gets caught in a verbal no-man’s land.
Meanwhile, TNT’s Eastern Conference coverage showcases Marv “Downtown” Albert and Doug Collins — a smooth, veteran twosome who are in sync most of the time.
In this magic electronic age, highly professional camera work too often is taken for granted.
A round of applause, please, for ESPN’s work during the Nuggets- Lakers series, highlighted by instant replays of controversial situations and graphic, up-close looks of player reactions, which included the view of the jaw-jutting Kobe Bryant after his spectacular 3-pointer that gave the Lakers the lead Saturday at the Pepsi Center with 1:09 remaining.
Change in booth.
I won’t be sending an e-mail to ESPN, pleading that executives recant and try to bring back Tony Kornheiser to the “Monday Night Football” booth.
And while former coach Jon Gruden, his replacement, is relatively unknown as a sports broadcaster, he probably will cover games by reporting and commenting on what is happening on the field.
During his three years in the “MNF” booth, Kornheiser too often worked from a talk show perspective, using a lot of clever (?) one-liners aimed at his two cohorts, rather than providing on-the-scene analysis.
While his attitude and perspective improved last season, few, if any, Broncos loyalists formed Tony Kornheiser fan clubs.
Remember the October 2006 game in Denver against the Ravens?
Kornheiser, attempting to tell viewers how important the Broncos were to the community, noted the team was here long before the Nuggets, Avalanche and Rockies, adding, “Other than that, what’s out here but sheep?”
ESPN announced last week that Kornheiser was leaving the “MNF” booth because of a fear of flying.
“The 2009 schedule would be too much pin-wheeling around America,” Kornheiser told the network, amid reports ESPN executives wanted to go “in a different direction.”
As of now, Gruden, who recently cited a desire to get back into coaching, is aboard only for the upcoming season.
Quotable.
Here’s an assessment from Charles Barkley, made on TNT before Saturday’s Lakers-Nuggets game, that Phil Jackson should pipe into the Los Angeles locker room before tonight’s game:
“You know the Lakers don’t want any of that physical play. They’re like my stomach — a little soft.”
Longtime Denver journalist Dusty Saunders writes about sports media each Monday in The Denver Post. Reach him at tvtime@comcast.net.
