The Chronicle‘s David Barron seems honestly mystified about the recent Rockets/Mavericks television ratings:
If you can explain the following facts regarding the Rockets-Mavericks series, feel free to drop me a line.
League-wide, of 35 first-round games broadcast by a cable regional sports network and either TNT or ESPN, 25 local broadcasts had a higher Nielsen rating in the hometown market.
In only five cases when games were simulcast by an over-the-air carrier and ESPN or TNT did the network carrier outrate the local broadcast. Four of them were Games 2, 5, 6 and 7 of Mavs-Rockets.
Incredibly, each of the seven games in the Dallas-Houston series had a higher rating on ESPN or TNT in Houston than on FSN Houston or KNWS (Ch. 51). Local broadcasts had a 4.9 rating in Houston; cable broadcasts averaged 7.7.
Why? TNT may have an edge because of local affections for Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith. The local broadcasts featuring Bill Worrell with Van Chancellor or Matt Bullard may have been at a disadvantage because Channel 51 doesn’t promote the games, so some viewers may have thought TNT or ESPN was the only alternative.
Also, some Time Warner Cable households get a fuzzy picture on KNWS, which is at dial position 2, because of bleedover from KPRC’s signal.
Or, perhaps, fans miss seeing Calvin Murphy alongside Worrell.
Ken Hoffman’s explanation still seems pretty good.
