The Charlotte Bobcats are barely registering on local television in their market, according to the latest ratings data from The Nielson Co. The Bobcats rank 28th among 30 NBA teams with 0.5 rating and a 1 percent share, Nielsen reports.
Last year at this point in the season, the Bobcats ranked 24th with a 1.0 rating and 2 percent share, reaching about 11,000 households in the Charlotte area. The ratings for the Triangle aren't tracked.
Fox Sports Carolinas has made an effort to put more Bobcats games on TV here. Of the 70 the regional networks was planning to televise this season, 39 were going to be available in this market. Last month, FS Carolinas announced that some games available only on SportSouth outside the Triangle would be shown in this market on Time Warner Cable channel 145.
But if there's any demand for the Bobcats here, it's not enough to help the ratings. Aside from the fact that they're not on cable as often in this market, their ratings also are hurt by the fact that satellite TV customers outside a 75-mile radius around the arena can't watch the team. DirecTV and Dish Network agreed to pick up the Bobcats in the "inner market," in other words within 75 miles of Time Warner Cable Arena.
Here are the NBA's top 10 in local ratings, according to Nielsen, with the 2008-09 numbers first, followed by the 2007-8 ratings and the percent change:
1. Cleveland 8.1 3.7 +119 %
2. San Antonio 7.9 6.8 +16%
3. Portland 5.6 4.4 +27%
4. Utah 5.6 6.3 -11%
5. L.A. Lakers 4.7 4.2 +12%
6. Boston 4.0 3.6 +11%
7. Detroit 3.8 5.6 -32%
8. Phoenix 3.8 5.0 -24%
9. Houston 2.6 2.5 +4%
10. Chicago 2.6 2.5 +4%
