Twin City Residents Don't Care About the Finals

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">ESPN's 17 postseason contests generated a 1.1 household rating in the Twin Cities, placing Minneapolis-St. Paul 52nd out of the 55 markets that are metered in the United States. Only Pittsburgh, Boston and Buffalo have lower numbers. And here's the sad part: That is an improvement on the 1.0 rating and last-place ranking the Twin Cities had for the playoffs on the network a year ago.

? ABC, which began its coverage of the NBA Finals between Cleveland and San Antonio on Thursday night, has pulled a 1.4 rating locally. That is "good" for a 53rd-place ranking, which is the same as a year ago and puts the Twin Cities ahead of Pittsburgh and Boston. But last year the Twin Cities provided ABC with a 2.1 rating, so there has been a significant drop in rating.

? And it gets worse. TNT's 43 playoff telecasts had a pathetic 0.9 rating in the Twin Cities. That is tied with Pittsburgh -- at least that city is a non-NBA market -- for last. Still, it's an improvement on the 0.8 rating and last-placing ranking Minneapolis-St. Paul had for TNT's coverage in 2006.

This is not to say that the rest of the country is captivated by the NBA playoffs. ESPN's numbers were down 27 percent from a year ago (2.4 vs. 3.3); TNT was off 13 percent (2.7 vs. 3.1). ABC, meanwhile, had a 24 percent dip through 10 games entering last night (2.9 vs. 3.8).

The national figures might be able to be spun in some type of "the ratings game has changed" explanation by public relations types. But there is no spinning what is going on in this market.

So what gives?

John Rash, senior vice president and director of media negotiations for Minneapolis-based Campbell Mithun Advertising, points to the Timberwolves' fall off the face of the NBA map as one factor.

"There are divergent dynamics that contribute to the low ratings, most importantly the performance and perception of the Timberwolves, who struggled locally to garner media and audience interest," Rash said. "With most fans counting them out of the playoffs even months before the end of the season, the buildup of interest in other teams was significantly more difficult and led to more fan apathy. That combined with an early season surge of interest in the Twins and the Wild having a playoff platform all to themselves, however brief."

Rash is right in that the local ratings dive for the NBA postseason began in spring 2005, when the Wolves missed the playoffs after making a run to the Western Conference finals the previous season.

But it's also clear that NBA games, no matter what time of year, just don't do it for many local viewers. During the regular season, TNT had a 0.3 rating in Minneapolis-St. Paul, tying Pittsburgh (do you sense a theme here?) for last among the metered markets. ESPN pulled a slightly higher 0.4 but that was dead last in the country and ABC's 1.1 number ranked third from the bottom.</div>

Source: Star Tribune