NBA Playoffs Bonanza for Cable
By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 5/2/2003 2:06:00 PM
Turner Network Television and ESPN are enjoying a ratings windfall from their coverage of the first round of the National Basketball Association playoffs.
Nearly two weeks into the pro-hoops postseason, both networks are reporting higher-than-expected ratings -- which, executives said, bodes well for cable's unprecedented access to the league's remaining playoff rounds.
Continuing the ratings momentum from the second half of its regular-season coverage, TNT averaged a 2.5 household rating for its first 20 NBA-playoff telecasts through April 28. That marked a 19 percent uptick over the 2.1 posted for the same number of first-round games TNT and TBS Superstation aired last year, TNT officials said.
ESPN, meanwhile, averaged a 2.2 rating for its eight postseason games through April 27, more than triple what the time periods averaged in 2002, network officials said.
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