The NBA Playoffs

As an advocate fan of professional sports, the NBA has come full circle in 2009 not only for myself, but seemingly for everyone around me. With stars like Lebron James and Kobe Bryant leading the pack, people from coast to coast are curious on what the buzz is all about. Not only am I glued to my television screen every night, but my girlfriend, my parents, and even aunts and uncles are emailing me about the special entertainment the NBA is displaying.

With all of this said, I ventured into how these special times for the NBA are affecting markets throughout the country. From national sports radio to local television networks, it seems that the NBA playoffs have been clogging up the marketplace. Did you know that the NHL championship will be decided in the next couple of weeks? (yawn) Exactly.

The USA TODAY reports that “Sunday's Game 3 (Cleveland vs. Orlando) drew an overnight rating that was up 65% from a San Antonio-Lakers playoff game in the time slot last year” Furthermore, “ESPN, after the first two Denver-Lakers games became ESPN's most-watched basketball games ever, [and] had overall NBA playoff ratings running 3% ahead of last year.”

Most watched basketball games ever?

TNT reported that “Game 7 of the epic first round battle between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls…was watched by 6.9 million total viewers on TNT. That audience total makes it the most-watched round one game in cable television history.”

In cable television history?

Shocked? Surprised? Stunned? I am not. The NBA has all the players in place and all of the advertising it needs to fuel the league for many years into the future. Looking back on it now, I should have known that when my girlfriend wanted to tune in every week that the NBA was headed in the right direction.

GO NUGGETS!

-RF

David vs. Goliath

In a move that could be ground-breaking for the TV measurement industry, WSVN (Fox affiliate in Miami) has filed a lawsuit against Nielsen, claiming that Nielsen is a monopoly and that they publish incorrect data.

For those of you unfamiliar, Nielsen uses 3 different methodologies to first measure TV viewership and then to provide agencies, stations, and any other interested party with ratings:
- Diary Only which asks viewers to write down what they watched;
- Household Meter/Demo Diary Combo which is a mix of meters attached to the TV measuring viewership on a household level, combined with demographic information from the diaries; and
- People Meters which is the same as the household meter, but requires all viewers to enter their demographics as well, so the household viewing is measured along with individual demographic viewing.

Ideally, the methodolgies shouldn't report vastly different ratings. In WSVN's case, though, when they shifted from diaries to people meters in October 2008 (the same month the Denver TV market also switched!), the station lost almost 50% of their young adult audience (they point to American Idol's ratings in their market as an example and proof). This of course lowers the value of the station and reduces ad revenue dramatically. (Imagine you were paying $1,000 for a spot in A.I. before... why would I want to continue to pay the same rate, if Nielsen is telling me I'm only getting half the viewers in my A 18-49 demographic I thought I was!? I would want that same spot for $500 or LESS!).

Nielsen is unbelievable protective of their methodology and ratings rationale and this lawsuit could force them into a VERY uncomfortable situation. Which measurement is correct? Or are they both wrong? Hopefully this lawsuit will help us learn. Stay tuned!!

Here is the article from the station's website describing the suit in more detail (yes, it may be a bit biased, but still provides some good information!):
http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/MI119585/

Interested in Twitter?

So we know social media is all the rage lately. Even though Twitter seems to be a passing fad (according to an article I read about 'Twitter Quitters'- the site only has a 40% retention rate, MUCH lower than most other social networking sites), I came across this article which I found to be very insightful about creating a Twitter profile for anyone who is interested. The highlights and my personal progress...

1) Use your real name (and don't underscore!). NOTE: I've already messed this up (oopsie!), as I used Brems10 (yes, this is a shameless plug to follow me on twitter!). Hopefully, though, this isn't so bad as this is my personal email address and many people who know me know I go by this all the time.

2) Use a real picture. DONE!

3) Treat your bio like SEO copy. Somewhat done. After reading a 'perfect' bio copy, I'm motivated to change mine up a bit. Keep in mind, though, like everything in the Twitter world you're limited to a certain number of characters (160 in this case)!

4) Include a URL. DONE! (My profile links to this site- I know, I know. I'm so clever!)

5) Consider a custom background. I do have a cute background that is offered by Twitter, but again, I may be motivated enough by this article to make it a little more personalized.

6) Don't Protect Your Updates. I have found this to be very true, because it really helps people find you and follow you- if your updates are protected, only your followers are going to see them and it's going to be hard for people to find you!

7) Take it Slow. This basically means to try and keep your following-to-follower ratio as close to 1:1 as possible. I'm trying, but I'm honestly loving this Twitter thing and can't wait to learn more! Enjoy!

http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-marketing/7-ingredients-in-the-perfect-twitter-profile/

- Ann