New on @sportsmediawatch.bsky.social: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is reportedly asked to testify on the SBA at a House committee hearing next week; some Scripps channels are unavailable on DirecTV amid carriage dispute; and more sports media news. www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/06/nfl-...

Rose Bowl could air in 8 PM ET slot under CFP schedule announced Monday. None of the three New Year's Day bowls has been assigned a window, and Rose could air either at 4 or 8 PM. (But not Noon ET, for obvious reasons). www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/06/rose...

New SMW Podcast: -- Special two-guest edition: NBC's Jason Benetti and Fox Sports' Will Buxton join the pod for separate conversations about their respective roles on MLB, Indy 500 -- Plus, a preview of the Spurs-Knicks NBA Finals podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

The Cubs' Motorola patch is so massive it almost seems at risk to fall off the sleeve.

NBC primetime this weekend last year: • Saturday: Reruns of "Destination X" and "Yes Chef," plus "Dateline Mystery" • Sunday: Reruns of "American Ninja Warrior" and "America's Got Talent" This year: • Saturday: NBA WCF Game 7 • Sunday: Cubs-Cardinals Sunday Night Baseball

For those wondering, the NBA Finals does not have a presenting sponsor this year. (Had previously been YouTube TV, which was the first presenting sponsor ever for the event.)

New SMW Podcast: -- Special two-guest edition: NBC's Jason Benetti and Fox Sports' Will Buxton join the pod for separate conversations about their respective roles on MLB, Indy 500 -- Plus, a preview of the Spurs-Knicks NBA Finals podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

Can Spurs-Thunder deliver a Finals-level Game 7 audience? www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/spur...

Can Spurs-Thunder deliver a Finals-level Game 7 audience? www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/spur...

NEW PODCAST: Sports Media Roundtable. Are the Knicks returning to the Finals of national interest? McAfee lands sport commissioners and the NHL's renaissance season. Guests are @sportsmediawatch.bsky.social's Jon Lewis, Armand Broady and Derek Futterman. TO LISTEN: swap.fm/l/4apy5A6Fma...

Stanley Cup Final start date moves up to Tuesday. Rest of series will be on the originally-selected ABC dates: www.sportsmediawatch.com/tv-schedules...

Recent WNBA numbers on NBC and ION: www.sportsmediawatch.com/sports-ratin...

New on @sportsmediawatch.bsky.social: NFL manager/scheduling planning analytics Max St. John discusses the league's Sunday afternoon slate; @mlb.com makes CBA proposal that includes centralizing media revenue, ending TV blackouts; and more sports media news. www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/nfl-...

Spurs-Thunder Game 5 (Tuesday night) continues trend of multi-year highs: www.sportsmediawatch.com/sports-ratin...

There is precedent -- the NBA flexed Sonics-Jazz Game 7 from Saturday to Sunday in '96 when Bulls-Magic ended in a sweep. But not doable now, especially since NBC already has "Sunday Night Baseball" set for this weekend.

Multi-year highs continue for NBA conference finals: -- Spurs-Thunder most-watched conference final through four games since Heat-Bulls in '11 -- Knicks-Cavs sweep most-watched ECF since seven-game Heat-Celtics in '23 Usual methodological caveats apply. www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/nba-...

Tonight is NBC's first Thursday night NBA game since 1997. As popular as the NBA was in the Jordan era, NBC largely avoided Thursdays to avoid preempting *reruns* of Seinfeld and Friends. NBC's last Thursday NBA game before tonight? Game 6 of the WCF, decided on a buzzer-beater.

Interesting ratings item whether you follow NASCAR or not: Coke 600 ratings & viewership on Prime Video were considerably different on a "Big Data + Panel" basis than on the panel-only metric NASCAR is now publicizing. Numbers tell two different stories: www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/nasc...

Indy 500 viewership down from last year, but still nears high: www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/indy...

Indy 500 viewership down from last year, but still nears high: www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/indy...

New on the SMW Ratings Tracker: Numbers for Game 3 of the NBA WCF and Game 2 of both NHL conference finals: www.sportsmediawatch.com/sports-ratin...

Knicks have been trending in this direction since Brunson acquisition, but let's not undersell how unlikely this run would have seemed a few years ago. Like trying to imagine the Cowboys or Maple Leafs obliterating teams in a historically-dominant run to the championship round.

New SMW Podcast: -- NFL manager/scheduling planning analytics Max St. John discusses the league's 2026 slate, the process of putting together the schedule, and the factors/strategies impacting the league's decisions: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

New on @sportsmediawatch.bsky.social: Paramount reportedly appears closer to receiving U.S. DOJ approval for WBD merger transaction; Fox Corporation is said to be paying under $500 million for FIFA World Cup rights; and more sports media news. www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/para...

Avs and Cavs combine for as many conference final wins as the Mavs.

The difference in broadcast TV inventory between this year and next is pretty significant. This year: an entire NBA conference final, the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Final on broadcast TV. Next year, only the NBA Finals.

We're at the point of the conference finals where there just haven't been *any* ABC games. ABC has had a number of Game 1s, Game 3s and a few Game 4s. But zero Game 5s, zero Game 6s, and zero Game 7s. Tonight is first conference final Game 5 on OTA since Celtics-Nets in '02.

Viewership figures from last Thursday -- NBA ECF Game 2 and NHL ECF Game 1: www.sportsmediawatch.com/sports-ratin...

New on @sportsmediawatch.bsky.social: An in-depth look at the MLB.TV viewing experience across different platforms. www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/mlb-...

The NBA Finals returns to New York City for the first time since 1999 two weeks from tonight on June 8 (Game 3). www.sportsmediawatch.com/tv-schedules...

Says a lot that four of the seven Eastern Conference playoff series went the full seven games and the Knicks have been this dominant. This has been a tightly contested, evenly matched East ... except for the team at the top.

Schedule out for day one of NCAA baseball regionals on Friday: www.sportsmediawatch.com/tv-schedules...

Believe it or not, Spurs-Thunder is the first NBA conference final to be tied 2-2 after four games since 2022 (Celtics-Heat) -- and first WCF to be tied since 2018 (Rockets-Warriors). This is only the second time since *2014* that the WCF has been tied 2-2.

Credit to Tirico for noticing the similarities between wide shot of Spurs crowd erupting on Wemby three and Knicks crowd erupting on Larry Johnson's 4-point play in '99. NBC *loved* that Larry Johnson shot and kept trying to recreate it on every big three the next few years.

The French Open is underway -- schedule below: www.sportsmediawatch.com/tv-schedules...

On one of the busiest sports days of the year, don't for get to check out SMW's daily, updated guide of sports on TV: www.sportsmediawatch.com/sports-on-tv...

ESPN's NBA conference final, the past four years: 2023: 4-0 2024: 4-0 2025: 4-1 2026: 3-0 (By comparison, the other conference final in those years -- 2023: 4-3, 2024: 4-1, 2025: 4-2, 2026: 2-1.)

On the latest "On the Air," Armand Broady examines the state of sports TV talk one year after the end of "Around the Horn": www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/on-t...

New items on the sports ratings tracker: -- NBC's latest Sunday Night Baseball audience -- NHL West Finals opens at high -- WNBA's return to NBC -- Preakness Stakes hits high despite absence of Derby winner www.sportsmediawatch.com/sports-ratin...

NEW PODCAST: Sports Media Roundtable. The guests are @austinkarp.bsky.social & @sportsmediawatch.bsky.social Topics: Can Victor Wembanyama follow LeBron James and Steph Curry as the NBA's top media draw; the NFL's international games; the NHL's TV windows and more. swap.fm/l/4apy5A6Fma...

New SMW Podcast: -- Talking NBA conference finals ratings and coverage -- Prime Video's first Game 7 and what it means -- NFL schedule thoughts and more podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

Spurs-Thunder delivers the largest audience on record for a Game 2 of an NBA conference final. (Beyond the usual Nielsen caveats, note that it was only the second Game 2 to air on broadcast television.) Cavaliers-Knicks opens at high for East Finals: www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/spur...

Death of NASCAR driver Busch is latest shock for the sport: www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/kyle...

NBA's Silver and MLB's Manfred just shown in mid-conversation on ESPN. Wonder what the topic was.

Canadiens-Sabres delivers top audiences of resurgent Stanley Cup Playoffs as Games 6 and 7 cap another milestone round: www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/stan...

Notable: NASCAR All-Star Race averaged 1.80M using the Nielsen panel-only metric that NASCAR will be reporting going forward. The race had 1.68M per the "Big Data + Panel" methodology that is still the official Nielsen currency: www.sportsmediawatch.com/sports-ratin...

Reggie Miller comparing Wemby to Michael J ... ackson. Probably not a comp most would expect.

NBA follows early round gains with milestone audience for Spurs-Thunder Game 1. Spurs' 2OT win was most-watched conference final opener since 2011 and ranks among top ten in Nielsen people-meter era (1988-present). (With standard methodological caveats): www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/nba-...

New on @sportsmediawatch.bsky.social: NFL owners approve maximum of 10 international games starting in 2027; Versant CEO Mark Lazarus discusses sports streaming; and more sports media news. www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/nfl-...

PGA Championship hits ratings, viewership highs: www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/pga-...