Nielsen’s Magic Trick and the NBA’s Same Old Story

Also, why ESPN and the other networks HATE NBC

The below decree from sports newsletter guy Kendall Baker would hurt my business, but I also share the sentiment.

In that vein, I’m making a request to Nielsen and the broadcasters it works with. I understand the incentives that drive ratings inflation. I get why you added Out of Home (OOH) areas and threw in more streaming viewership with your Big Data + Panel methodology. I’m just kindly asking that you be a bit more subtle with its effects. This is all just from the sports scene yesterday. Again, this is from one day. Just one.

Cue “Everything is Awesome” as the soundtrack in sports land. As someone who follows media in all of these different leagues, it’s funny watching writers react to these “historic” growth numbers as though their favorite sport happens to be one taking the nation by storm. These people are often savvy at analyzing their particular field but aren’t necessarily into the nitty gritty of Nielsen changes. They just want to believe a positive story about their profession and gleefully run with it. It’s just tough to buy in aggregate, as demographic and Internet trends point to a decline in sports consumption.

So you might be wondering, how did the NBA playoffs stack up on opening weekend during this numerical bull run? I’ve got the actual comparison, as opposed to the PR-friendly manipulation. I also have some background on why the other NBA broadcasters hate NBC.