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).

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Thursday–May 28

Catching Up on Broadband M&A

The flow of broadband M&A continued last week after Nebraska-based and Grain Management-owned Great Plains Communications confirmed a deal to snatch up Fastwyre Broadband’s operations in the Cornhusker State.

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