STERN Sees Technology, Global Reach As NBA's Challenge Of TV Future

(From The USA Today -- By Michael Hiestand)

Just about all pro sports realize they help themselves when they help TV.
But NBA COMMISSIONER DAVID STERN is unusually open-minded. Asked if TV has gone as far as it can in getting inside NBA games, Stern says, "We're far from seeing the end of it."

After all, he says, "what if they used sensors, dust-like particles, reporting (on-court) activity? I'm not sure where we'd sprinkle them. But imagine if a sensor, the weight of a penny and sewn into uniforms, could transmit broadcast quality images wirelessly."

Stern's brave new world sounds fun. And, for the NBA, promising. High-end sports TV rights fees, like high-end real estate, might someday quit spiraling up in America. But the influx of foreign players already has helped overseas NBA TV rights get to where they're "approaching" 10% of U.S. TV revenue, Stern says, and overseas TV money "sometime in the next decade will approach 50%."

But, on a more pedestrian level, the league faces some hiccups in its playoff TV appeal. For the first time since 1976, the postseason didn't have teams from the USA's top markets -- NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES -- and doesn't have a marquee attraction like the LAKERS were in recent years.

That's already had an effect. ABC's weekend games, meant to be broadcast network playoff showcases, are averaging 2.7% of U.S. households -- down 36% from 2004.

Granted, ABC's games haven't been close ones. And the NBA was ahead of the curve in projecting its overall playoff ratings wouldn't implode when it split with NBC three years ago and put more games -- via ESPN -- on cable TV.

Stern notes conventional wisdom seems to be catching up -- "It was much-commented upon when we expanded on cable. But the NFL, the strongest product in sports, just moved the greatest brand in sports -- MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL -- to ESPN. That wasn't so much commented upon, except on how much ESPN paid. And the trend will simply continue."

The NBA's playoff cable ratings have been steady, with TNT and ESPN having registered marginal viewership. Last week, two HOUSTON ROCKETS/DALLAS MAVERICKS games were the fourth and fifth most-watched cable shows -- trailing only two WWE RAW WRESTLING SHOWS and an unusually compelling episode -- as this critic saw it --of SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS.

But ABC's ratings suggest the NBA might need a bigger broadcast presence -- perhaps through more Sunday doubleheaders -- to generate viewer interest.

"I'm not sure," Stern says. "Frankly, we're not sure if viewers have an appetite for over-the-air afternoon doubleheaders, given all the other (TV) choices, especially on good-weathered afternoons."

And more prime-time network broadcasts, he suggests, might not be an answer either -- "Because the audience that comes to broadcast networks is broader, the absence of the LAKERS -- a team people love to love or love to hate -- will have an impact with that audience. We expect our ratings to be down with that audience."

The NBA FINALS will be on prime time on ABC, which also will end up with two prime-time games from the WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS if it goes seven games. The NBA's mass appeal should pick up if it ends up with its optimal final four -- SAN ANTONIO SPURS vs. PHOENIX SUNS and DETROIT PISTONS vs. MIAMI HEAT in the CONFERENCE FINALS.

And there's always hope that LEBRON JAMES and KOBE BRYANT can nail down starting roles in next year's postseason.

Meanwhile, Stern looks at the big picture -- "the thematics are technology and globality" -- and issues such as the convergence of the Internet and TV and sports video delivered on cell phones, although Stern isn't hot on showing games on phone screens "because we're not looking, for now, to miniaturize our game presentation."

Stern is realistic about today's hiccups. Some notables, including TNT's CHARLES BARKLEY, called for networks not to keep replaying the November 19th brawl because the PISTONS and INDIANA PACERS are meeting.

"The likelihood of that happening was as great as our teams flying to their next games without planes," Stern says. "It was all too delicious for the media."