How come in the Jordan era they had better TV ratings then now?

[SouBeachTalents]

It's amazing how often we have this conversation like the media landscape isn't wildly different from even 15 years ago, let alone the fvcking 90's lol.

Attributing this solely to Jordan and not streaming/the internet is wild

[Meticode]

LOL...no it's not Jordan

DVR's and Cord Cutting has killed "ratings" as we know it because you can skip commercials and buzz right through the game. The same percentage drop happened with Baseball

It's amazing how often we have this conversation like the media landscape isn't wildly different from even 15 years ago, let alone the fvcking 90's lol.

Attributing this solely to Jordan and not streaming/the internet is wild

Jordan retiring isn't the only reason for the NBA lost in viewership, but it is the main culprit and where it all started. Cord cutting and illegal streams were contributing factors that killed it further years later. The two biggest dips in NBA viewership/ratings were the years following Jordan's first and second retirement. The second retirement they lost over 10 million viewers. The biggest drop in any season. In the 80s and 90s until 1998 the viewership for the Finals was consistently between 20-25 million people minus the Houston Rocket Finals. It's not been over 20 million since 1998.

The MLB didn't see any dips until around 2005. MLB didn't quite follow the same trajectory.

[game3524]

Mike brought in viewers who would normally not watch NBA basketball and they left after he retired and never came back. Not to say we haven't seen highly rated series (The Cavs/Warriors series, Sixers/Lakers etc. all did well), but yeah no one really drew an audience like Mike.

[Meticode]

Mike brought in viewers who would normally not watch NBA basketball and they left after he retired and never came back. Not to say we haven't seen highly rated series (The Cavs/Warriors series, Sixers/Lakers etc. all did well), but yeah no one really drew an audience like Mike.

Sad to think the Cavs/Warriors were highly rated, but only reached half or one-third of what 1998 did.

[game3524]

Sad to think the Cavs/Warriors were highly rated, but only reached half or one-third of what 1998 did.

People ask what the peak year of the NBA is and it is 1998 without any question. Interest has never been as high as it was that year and it is mainly because of Jordan.

[Hey Yo]

Mike brought in viewers who would normally not watch NBA basketball and they left after he retired and never came back. Not to say we haven't seen highly rated series (The Cavs/Warriors series, Sixers/Lakers etc. all did well), but yeah no one really drew an audience like Mike.

So the numbers should show viewership spiked back up significantly for the 2ys he played for Washington? Went back down after the 3rd retirement?

[Meticode]

So the numbers should show viewership spiked back up significantly for the 2ys he played for Washington? Went back down after the 3rd retirement?

No one cared because the Wizards weren't competing in the playoffs for those two years. He was a shadow of his former self. Still a great player, but nothing like 1998 and prior. No one wanted to watch the f*cking Wizards with a old Jordan that could only show glimpses of what he used to be.

[Hey Yo]

No one cared because the Wizards weren't competing in the playoffs for those two years. He was a shadow of his former self. Still a great player, but nothing like 1998 and prior. No one wanted to watch the f*cking Wizards with a old Jordan that could only show glimpses of what he used to be.

Then it was a successful winning team who the non fans tuned into see, not just Jordan. That makes much more sense.

[Meticode]

Then it was a successful winning team who the non fans tuned into see, not just Jordan. That makes much more sense.

No, it was casual fans wanting to watch peak Jordan win and compete. They didn't want to see old Jordan lose on arguably one of the worse franchises in the NBA still today.

[Gudo]

Wow they would say anything but credit Jordan for something so obvious. Even the sneakers were not about Jordan, the designs just "so-happened" to be timeless.

[Baller234]

It's amazing how often we have this conversation like the media landscape isn't wildly different from even 15 years ago, let alone the fvcking 90's lol.

Attributing this solely to Jordan and not streaming/the internet is wild

Hard disagree here.

There were always other options. In the 90's it wasn't much different because you saw the explosion of cable TV. We went from having 6 channels to 100 which meant more competition for the NBA. That period also saw the explosion of video games. None of it mattered though because that was also the biggest growth period for the league.

Streaming doesn't strike me as something that diverts attention away from sports. Sports are their own thing with their own audience. A real sports fan is never going to stream a movie over a big game if given the option. I highly doubt that less people would have watched Michael Jordan in the finals if only they had the option to stream every episode of The Office.

Sports are a shared experience and MJ was must-see TV.

[GOBB]

Why is it that right now the NBA finals TV rating is not even close to the Jordan era? Isn't the NBA getting more popular and well know, so should there be more viewers?

Becuase people weren’t sitting on message boards arguing about the game instead of just watching it with family/friends etc

[game3524]

Speaking of MJ's return in 2001-02, the ratings actually did go up from the previous season. Granted, I wouldn't say that was entirely do to MJ returning. Kobe, AI, T-Mac, Vince etc. basically the stars of the 2000s all broke out and became real stars and that helped generate interest in the league.

[Full Court]

In the Jordan era, people didn't have to watch players arguing with the refs on every single freaking possession.

[sdot_thadon]

Yeah Mj would never...