NBA ratings are up

We’re not sure how it all fits together, but somehow Brian Lowry of Variety has tied in his theory of how the networks should run themselves to the NBA Playoff ratings. (Don’t bother clicking unless you subscribe – we’ll quote all pertinent info.)

So yeah – he says it’s tied in with marketing young stars and slams baseball, but the point is that apparently ratings are up so far this year, thanks to an awesome batch of first round series.

Once again, fans are buzzing about NBA games, reflected in across-the-board demographic gains, with cable outlet TNT eclipsing an 11-year-old first-round playoff record during the Lakers-Phoenix Suns series — a mark set back when Michael Jordan ruled the airwaves. Pretty good timing for a league whose TV contract is up for renewal after the 2007-08 season.

That’s good news for all, eh? Not only are ratings up, but more people are watching.

Not only that, but when the games are on, the number of homes that are tuned in is higher than it was in previous years.

If you think that can’t be topped, understand this – if there’s a game on, and the machines that track the ratings are tabulating numbers, those numbers are mathematically larger than they used to be.

Incredibly, it gets better. If you took a survey of everyone in a America, and one of the questions was “Are you watching the NBA Playoffs”, the results would show an increased number of “Y” checks than a similar survey done last year.

In conclusion, we must apologize to Brian Lowry. Every time we say your name, whether in our head or out loud, we do it just like Martin Lawrence did in that one scene in Bad Boys, when he’s all growling like, “Mike LOWRY. I’m Mike LOWGHRY.”