NBA Eastern Conference Finals ratings, viewership, past 30 years-UPDATED with Western Conference

[OaklandCertified]

fukk the Leastern Conference.

 

[Harry B]

What about faux steaming and paid streaming?

 

[FAH1223]

NBC lost the rights in 2002.

The NBA didn't recover numbers until 2008 for the conference finals and then the Heatles restored that feeling

The league going all in to cable lessened the number of people watching.

 

[Professor Emeritus]

How would I know what my television was showing in 1996 if I had nothing compare it too?

That’s like complaining about your flip phone before smart phones were invented

You seem confused. I'm talking about comparing your internet videos to your television. Television in 1996 was MUCH better resolution than what the average internet connection could process in real time.

And like @Miggs points out, what was available on internet wasn't comparable either (not just lack of league pass, but lack of Netflix, other streaming shows, lower quality online games, and a lot less entertainment in general).

 

[FakeNews]

@kdslittlebro @MJ Truth @Gotright

 

[Damnshow]

Really nothing shocking here. If the series has no interesting players or it's lopsided before it even began, you're not getting great ratings out of it.

Jazz vs Spurs series having the lowest ratings from the western graph, I mean who the fukk wants to see Duncan vs Carlos Boozer battle in a frikkin conference finals it sounds like a 1st round series at best.

 

[Soldier]

@kdslittlebro @MJ Truth @Gotright

Why the spurs/blazers WCF (1999) had nearly 3 millions more viewers than the jazz/lakers WCF (1998)


(Update: I see the 1999 WCF was entirely on NBC (free OTA channel) while the 1998 WCF was both on TNT and NBC. TNT is a cable channel not freely available to everyone so the ratings were probably lower because of that. Free channels like NBC have more reach. If the entire 1998 WCF was on NBC, TV ratings would have been much higher for sure.)


Both WCF series ended in sweeps . But the 1998 WCF was more compelling on paper( Kobe/Shaq/nick van exel/Eddie jones lakers vs the defending western conference champs Utah jazz looking to return to the finals again)

And the Spurs and blazers both kinda came out of nowhere as contenders in 1999. They made the playoffs the year before but were eliminated in the early rounds. And in 1997-98, they weren’t close to contending. The Lakers and the Jazz were the biggest threats in the west. And in 96/97 the spurs missed the playoffs and were the worst team in the league. They selected Tim Duncan from wake forest university with their first overall draft pick in the 1997 nba draft.

Meanwhile The 96/97 blazers had a 49-33 record that year and were quickly eliminated by the lakers in the first round.

In 1996/97, the lakers made the playoffs, it was the first full season of Shaq in LA, and the rookie year of Kobe. The Jazz eliminated the lakers in 5 in round 2 that year. The Utah Jazz went the finals for the first time ever but they lost to the defending champs Bulls.


Funny fact in the late 90s, the jazz always beat the lakers in the postseason. But from 2008-2010 the lakers always had the jazz number in the playoffs.

 

[Bar Razor]

And MJ was definitely a big draw, but are people ignoring that '94, '95, '97, and '99 are all pretty much the same rating? Obviously ratings were a lot higher in the pre-internet, pre-mass cable era. The fact that that shytty Knicks vs. Pacers series in '99 has nearly double the ratings of a far more interesting Celtics vs. Pistons series in '08 shows how quickly ratings cratered after 400-channel options and the tech boom hit. It's not all Jordan effect (though MJ's series were still far better than the other ones nearby).

Jordan was, is and will be king. I've seen many people from other countries say he's well known with the average person whereas even Lebron isn't. It is what it is. You're better off accepting it instead of coming up with convoluted reasons why Jordan's dominance isn't really what it seems. No one except the most fervent Jordan haters buys it, FYI.

 

[K-Apps]

 

[Boonapalist]

I see besides 99 the Spurs bringing shyt down . No surprise there. Those scum ass nikkas didn’t deserve the 1st pick in the Wemby draft

 

[Juggalo Fred]

fukk the Leastern Conference.

 

[bl2k8]

I see besides 99 the Spurs bringing shyt down . No surprise there. Those scum ass nikkas didn’t deserve the 1st pick in the Wemby draft

It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things but man I forgot how many people did not like watching the spurs in shyt. Them ratings went to shyt everytime they were involved

 

[concise]

Spurs were putting up Covid era numbers decades in advance

 

[holidayinn21]

Tim Duncan on my TV screen, I would have shut the TV off too

 

[In The Zone '98]

For the young'ns. The spurs weren't liked.

Bruce Bowen walked so Draymond could run.