Sports TV News
Media Tells Two Different Stories About NBA All Star Ratings
“The smaller audience is definitely something that the league is concerned about, but given the trend of all sports broadcasts being down, the NBA is still outperforming most of its competition outside of football.”
Published
1 year agoon
By
BSM Staff
The ratings for the NBA All-Star Game were either very bad or very good depending on who you ask and how it is framed.
Let’s start with the bad. It is undeniable that ratings for the NBA, like every sport since the pandemic began, have struggled to draw the TV audience it used to. Sunday night, that fact was crystal clear as the NBA All-Star Game saw its lowest ratings and smallest TV audience ever. Overall viewership was down 24% from last year.
The NBA All-Star Game is the latest sports-TV franchise to take its ratings lumps, as Sunday’s cable telecast marked the lowest turnout in the history of the event. https://t.co/LyQeFCtU7U
— Sportico (@Sportico) March 9, 2021
NBA All Star ratings hit an all time low on Sunday drawing just 5.94 million viewers, down nearly 75% from 1990’s era highs: https://t.co/GH24803pZl
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 9, 2021
NBA All-Star Game takes a sharp nose dive in TV ratings despite new format https://t.co/9DzAhua5gj
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) March 10, 2021
Numbers-wise, the NBA has to be particularly disappointed with the 18-34 demographic. A fanbase that the league touts as one of its strengths only delivered a 2.4 rating.
Now, let’s talk about the good. This is a similar narrative to the Super Bowl. The audience was low by comparison to past events, but compared to the rest of television, the NBA All-Star Game, like the Super Bowl, delivered.
Inside the sports world, the All-Star Game tops every non-football telecast since last year’s World Series. It is the most watched game of the NBA season.
Maybe some older viewers skipped the All-Star Game in favor of Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Prince Harry and Megan Markel on CBS, but with that 18-34 demo, basketball beat the royal tell all.
NBA All-Star Game ratings hold up well despite record low
— Sports Media Watch (@paulsen_smw) March 9, 2021
— Most-watched non-football sporting event since last year's World Series
— Beat CBS' much-hyped celebrity interview in A18-34
— Top NBA rating of season (ahead of DAL-LAL on Christmas)https://t.co/WbtA1D71bD
The NBA All-Star Game held up OK against Oprah, Harry and Meghan in the ratings battle on Sunday https://t.co/N7xD1dTnq3
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) March 9, 2021
Nielsen says Sunday's All-Star Game on TNT was the most-viewed program in prime time for under-45s (3.26 million) … outpacing even the big Oprah interview on CBS (3.01 million)
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 9, 2021
Sports Media Watch (@paulsen_smw) goes deeper on the ratings ins and outs: https://t.co/rLGgExm0pY.
So it was undeniably a good night for the NBA while simultaneously being an undeniably bad one. The smaller audience is definitely something that the league is concerned about, but given the trend of all sports broadcasts being down, the NBA is still outperforming most of its competition outside of football.
Discussions of the NBA’s ratings have come with social implications since 2019, when the league forced then-Rockets GM Daryl Morey to walk back a tweet expressing support for democracy in Hong Kong. For one night only, it seems that the same game provided fodder for both narratives about the country’s interest in the NBA.
Sports TV News
Joe Buck: ESPN Is Letting Us Set Tone For Monday Night Football
“It wasn’t well, you are at ESPN, you have to figure out how we do it.”

Published
2 hours agoon
May 25, 2022By
Ricky Keeler
While Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will be calling football games on Monday nights for ESPN instead of Sunday afternoons for FOX this year, fans shouldn’t expect the broadcasts to be that much different, if at all, than what they’ve been used to over the last 20 years.
Buck was recently a guest on the Green Light with Chris Long podcast and said that ESPN knows that he and Aikman have to be comfortable in order for Monday Night Football to be a success.
“I know we are in the honeymoon phase. I’m not dumb. That stuff wears off after a while. They are like ‘however you guys have always done a game, that’s the way we want you to do a game whether it’s with regard to meetings vs. conference calls or when you guys show up, how you like the booth set up. However you want it, we are going to do it your way’ and that’s to their credit. It wasn’t well, you are at ESPN, you have to figure out how we do it.”
Buck and Aikman are obviously already very familiar with each other. Buck said that it will be important not to take that for granted or second guess what they already know.
“I think the one thing Troy and I have to avoid is trying to be different than we’ve been. They hired us based on what we’ve done and who we are and how we relate to each other and the way we see a game,” said Buck.
Ricky Keeler
Ricky Keeler is a reporter for BSM with a primary focus on sports media podcasts and national personalities. He is also an active podcaster with an interest in pursuing a career in sports media. You can find him on Twitter @Rickinator555 or reach him by email at RickJKeeler@gmail.com.
Sports TV News
Mike Tirico, Tom Brady, Manningcast Win Sports Emmys

Published
10 hours agoon
May 25, 2022
The annual Sports Emmys were handed out on Tuesday night, and some usual names and new names ended up taking home hardware.
Among the usual names were NBC’s Mike Tirico, who won for Outstanding Personality/Studio Host, and soon-to-be Sunday Night Football broadcast colleague Cris Collinsworth, who was named Outstanding Personality/Sports Event Analyst.
The #SportsEmmys Award for Outstanding Personality/Sports Event Analyst goes to @CollinsworthPFF (@nbcsports). pic.twitter.com/C5yWxrAIi8
— Sports Emmys (@sportsemmys) May 25, 2022
The #SportsEmmys Award for Outstanding Personality/Studio Host goes to @miketirico (@nbcsports). pic.twitter.com/Cb0cE9gGfu
— Sports Emmys (@sportsemmys) May 25, 2022
But among the new names as Sports Emmy winners include Tom Brady and both Eli and Peyton Manning.
Brady’s Man in the Arena saga won Outstanding Documentary Series, while the Mannings were rewarded for their work on the Monday Night Football Manningcast, which won Outstanding Live Series.
Here’s a rundown of some of the key Sports Emmy winners:
The #SportsEmmys Award for Outstanding Personality/Play-by-Play goes to Mike Breen (ABC). pic.twitter.com/EjZt9jKfhI
— Sports Emmys (@sportsemmys) May 24, 2022
The #SportsEmmys Award for Outstanding Personality/Reporter goes to @sportsiren (@espn). pic.twitter.com/DqwBkp9vqJ
— Sports Emmys (@sportsemmys) May 25, 2022
The #SportsEmmys Award for Outstanding Personality/Studio Analyst goes to @nateburleson (@nflnetwork @cbssports @Nickelodeon). pic.twitter.com/aLp05Hj0CJ
— Sports Emmys (@sportsemmys) May 25, 2022
The #SportsEmmys Award for Outstanding Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent goes to @malika_andrews (@espn). pic.twitter.com/A6h4FCz295
— Sports Emmys (@sportsemmys) May 25, 2022
The #SportsEmmys Award for Outstanding Studio Show – Daily goes to Good Morning Football (@nflnetwork) [Embassy Row | NFL Films]. @gmfb pic.twitter.com/nSbrQm8Dtm
— Sports Emmys (@sportsemmys) May 25, 2022
The #SportsEmmys Award for Outstanding Studio Show – Limited Run goes to Inside The NBA on TNT: Playoffs @NBAonTNT. pic.twitter.com/nO5ifzhf2g
— Sports Emmys (@sportsemmys) May 24, 2022
The #SportsEmmys Award for Outstanding Studio Show – Weekly goes to Inside the NBA on TNT (@turnersportspr). @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/cO4d0XFe9F
— Sports Emmys (@sportsemmys) May 25, 2022
The #SportsEmmys Award for Outstanding Documentary Series – Serialized goes to Formula 1: Drive to Survive (@netflix) [Box to Box Films]. @BoxToBoxFilms #drivetosurvive pic.twitter.com/hTiEynSzpU
— Sports Emmys (@sportsemmys) May 25, 2022
Here is a full list of winners and nominees for the 2022 ceremony.
Jordan Bondurant
Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett News Media. He also works for ABC8 News and Newsradio WRVA and 910 The Fan in Richmond, Virginia. His prior experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly and iHeartradio Richmond. He can be reached by email at Jordan.E.Bondurant@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.
Sports TV News
Joe Buck Says He Won’t Miss World Series
“This is the first time since I was 18-years-old, and I’m 53, that I’m not doing a baseball game.”

Published
10 hours agoon
May 25, 2022
Among the bigger chain reactions set off by Joe Buck leaving FOX for ESPN was the sudden vacancy in FOX’s main MLB broadcast booth.
The 2022 World Series will mark the first time since 1995 that Buck will not be on the microphone.
Speaking to Chris Long on his podcast Green Light, Buck hopes to be in a more exotic location watching World Series games this fall.
“I would like to be in Cabo San Lucas with a margarita in my hand and a half-smoked cigar watching Game 7 of the World Series,” Buck said. “Cheering on Joe Davis and John Smoltz, and Ken Rosenthal, and Tom Verducci, and Pete Macheska and Matt Gangl and right on down the line.”
Buck added he’ll take pleasure in turning the broadcast off if it’s Game 7 and there’s an insurmountable lead. But the broadcasting legend said even on a bigger scale, not calling any baseball games at all this season, let alone the World Series, is a bit surreal after covering the sport for so long.
“This is the first time since I was 18-years-old, and I’m 53, that I’m not doing a baseball game,” he said. “And that’s really weird to me, but I walk away really proud of what I and we did.”
He added that he will not miss the opportunity, because he does not feel like he will “leave any unfinished business” in FOX’s MLB booth.
Buck further praised his FOX colleagues and said it was time for a change. He knows Joe Davis will thrive in the opportunity.
Jordan Bondurant
Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett News Media. He also works for ABC8 News and Newsradio WRVA and 910 The Fan in Richmond, Virginia. His prior experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly and iHeartradio Richmond. He can be reached by email at Jordan.E.Bondurant@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.