LeBron James isn’t only scoring on the basketball court—he’s also scoring on
the tube. Local ratings for Cleveland Cavaliers games are up 119% to an 8.1
Nielsen household rating, the highest for any time in any market this season.
On the other hand, things are tough in Detroit, where ratings for the Pistons
are down 32%.
Other local-market highlights in the NBA this year:
The Indiana Pacers showed the greatest year-to-year ratings increase through
the All-Star Break. The Pacers have tripled their ratings from 0.6 last year
to 1.8 this year. New Orleans, led by superstar Chris Paul, saw its ratings
climb 160%. The NBA’s two largest markets, New York and Los Angeles, have maintained
the growth trend that started earlier this year. The Knicks are up 18%, while
in L.A., the Lakers are up 12% and the Clippers are up 43%.
Ratings for the top 10 teams are as follows:
| Rank | Team |
2008-09 HH Rating
|
2007-08 HH Rating
|
% Change
|
| 1. | Cleveland |
8.1
|
3.7
|
119%
|
| 2. | San Antonio |
7.9
|
6.8
|
16%
|
| 3. | Portland |
5.6
|
4.4
|
27%
|
| 4. | Utah |
5.6
|
6.3
|
-11%
|
| 5. | L.A. Lakers |
4.7
|
4.2
|
12%
|
| 6. | Boston |
4.0
|
3.6
|
11%
|
| 7. | Detroit |
3.8
|
5.6
|
-32%
|
| 8. | Phoenix |
3.8
|
5.0
|
-24%
|
| 9. | Houston |
2.6
|
2.5
|
4%
|
| 10. | Chicago |
2.6
|
2.5
|
4%
|
| Source: Nielsen Co., 2009 | ||||
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