[ThePundit]

The NBA is starting to run more like MLB every day. 3 game sevens and only one is being played today? All 3 should be on today - or at the very minimum 2. Sunday is the best TV ratings day! Is anyone else shocked by this or is it just me?

[legend]

Think to yourself why there isn't a game on tonight. Give up? Because it is the two hour long season finale of Desparate Housewives! Sports fans get the shaft every time when it comes to scheduling events, whether it is these NBA playoffs or the World Series starting at 8:30. Networks work hard to avoid going up against blockbuster ratings shows, leaving us out in the cold. Today should have been a game at 1:00, a game at 4:00, and Spurs and Mavs in prime time.

[ThePundit]

Interesting legend, I never thought of that. But isn't Desperate Housewive's mainly for women? You would think that they wouldn't have the same audience. Shows you what I know about TV demograhics.

[legend]

What network are the games on? ABC and ESPN, which is owned by ABC. They are not about to show a Game Seven that is going to do a 5.0 rating at best when they can have Desperate Housewives that is going to do a 28 in that spot. Sunday Night is one of the most watched night of television, often the MOST watched. The NBA doesn't want their games to be ignored, so they make sure they have at least a chance of being seen by someone by sending them to Monday night. Both games are on TNT tonight, one at 8 and one at 10:30. Even the one at 8 is going to do a terrible ratings number, because it is up against the season finale of 24, CSI Miami, Medium, and over on ABC, the series finale of Alias, which is why they aren't televising these games. It is all about trying to get some ratings numbers for the advertisers, not about the fans.

[Lefty Noob]

I get what you're saying legend, and for the most part I think you've nailed it.

Yet Fox postpones regular programming to show the baseball playoffs in the fall. So it would look that some sports (football, baseball) do better that others (NBA, NHL) and maybe even better than certain programs (Super Bowl vs. Lost or American Idol finales? Which will come out with better ratings).

The 18-30 demographic or whatever the exact demographic is -- the one that TV advertisers feel are the ones that buy more based on commercials -- also has to play into the equation. I'm sure that even if a show like Diagnosis Murder or Murder She Wrote (yes, old shows I know... not too up on what's on TV anymore) outdrew the NBA playoffs, I'm sure the NBA playoffs would've gotten the nod because they draw more younger viewers with more disposable income.

[ThePundit]

Originally Posted by legend

What network are the games on? ABC and ESPN, which is owned by ABC. They are not about to show a Game Seven that is going to do a 5.0 rating at best when they can have Desperate Housewives that is going to do a 28 in that spot. Sunday Night is one of the most watched night of television, often the MOST watched. The NBA doesn't want their games to be ignored, so they make sure they have at least a chance of being seen by someone by sending them to Monday night. Both games are on TNT tonight, one at 8 and one at 10:30. Even the one at 8 is going to do a terrible ratings number, because it is up against the season finale of 24, CSI Miami, Medium, and over on ABC, the series finale of Alias, which is why they aren't televising these games. It is all about trying to get some ratings numbers for the advertisers, not about the fans.

Why couldn't they have at least had another game on at 6:30? This way, they would even get carry over from people watching the game into Desperate Housewives. Or they could have done a 1, 3:30 and 6. Instead, now for what could be a great Clippers-Suns game, 3/4 of the East Coast is goanna be sleeping for the 2nd half. No little kids will see it. Then 10 years from now, we'll wonder why so few kids are interested in basketball these days.

[legend]

If you look at what is on opposite the World Series, you will find that the major networks never put on first run shows; everything is a rerun. The big television months, the sweeps months, are November, January, and May. The Super Bowl is always the most watched show every year, and the American Idol finale would get a huge number. American Idol kills its competition week after week, no matter what is on against it. You will also nitice that football does not schedule a Sunday night game against the World Series, at least they didn't under the old system.