Disappointing regular seasons led to big ratings drops in New York and Los Angeles

Sports Business Journal reports the Nets and Knicks both lost big chunks of the local TV audience this season, part of a trend that also saw drops in Los Angeles and Chicago. The Nets ratings, pumped up by the team's move to Brooklyn in 2012-13, dropped by a fifth this season.

SPJ reports...

Those losses for the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls highlight a story line for the NBA that saw the league heading into the final days of its regular season last week on pace to post audience declines in six of its eight biggest markets. Only the Dallas Mavericks (up 8,000 homes per game) and Golden State Warriors (up 11,000 homes per game) had posted viewership gains on the season, according to Nielsen data for 27 of the NBA’s 29 U.S.-based teams.

The Lakers had the most disappointing season and the biggest drop ... 54 percent, The story was similarly bad in New York, SBJ notes, as Knicks ratings on MSG were down 29 percent. Knicks games averaged a 2.18 rating. Nets ratings on YES Network dropped 20 percent, to a 0.77 rating. A ratings point is equal to one percent of the number of households in a TV market. The biggest jump was registered by the Pacers, who doubled their audience. The worst team had the worst ratings. On some nights, SBJ reports, the Bucks had only 5,000 households tuning in. On an average night, the Nets get nearly a dozen times that number.

• Big markets take big hits in local viewership - John Ourand & John Lombardo - Sports Business Journal