This past weekend tipped off the NBA playoffs, typically a ratings bonanza for ESPN and TNT. Although the opening tilts failed to deliver prime supremacy to either net, the numbers are promising, especially given that viewership tends to heat up like Kobe Bryant as rounds progress. Sun’s Warriors/Mavs contest earned a 2.6/2.41mln, tops of 3 TNT games and ahead of the net’s 1st-round avg in ’06 (1.9/2.15mln). ESPN games fared a little worse, with Sat’s Jazz/Rockets engagement earning the best numbers, 2.0/1.85mln. — Surprisingly baseball basked in the cable spotlight last week, with ESPN’s Sun coverage of the Yankees/Red Sox delivering a 4.2/3.95mln, good for the week’s top telecast spot and the most-viewed "Sunday Night Baseball" telecast ever. The numbers helped ESPN (1.4/1.34mln) rank 5th on the prime ratings list, preceded by Disney (2.1/1.88mln), USA (2.0/1.81mln), TNT (1.6/1.53mln) and Fox News (1.5/1.41mln).

The Daily

Subscribe
Wednesday–October 15

Effros: Utility Competition

In a conversation I had with him many years ago, John Malone, then CEO of Telecommunications Inc (TCI)—the largest cable company at the time—asked if I thought we could get “Washington” to regulate cable as a “public utility.”

Read the Full Issue
The Skinny is delivered on Tuesday and focuses on the cable profession. You'll stay in the know on the headlines, topics and special issues you value most. Sign Up

Jobs

Seeking an INDUSTRY JOB or hiring for one?
VIEW JOBS

In conjunction with our sister brand, Cynopsis, we are offering hiring managers a deep pool of media-savvy, skilled candidates at a range of experience levels and sectors. The result will be an even more robust industry job board, to help both employers and job seekers.

Contact us at marketing@cynopsis.com, for more information about posting a job on the website and our Jobs newsletter, sent twice weekly to 85,000 media professionals.