By BILL HAISTEN Sports Writer on May 22, 2012, at 5:00 PM Updated on 5/22 at 5:00 PM
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In Tulsa, there is no bigger Oklahoma City Thunder fan than John Trook, the director of sales for KTUL channel 8.
As the local ABC affiliate, KTUL will televise the NBA Finals. If the Thunder is involved, the station benefits from huge ratings – and a significant spike in advertising revenue.
Monday’s Game 5 of the Los Angeles Lakers-Thunder series (televised by TNT) was the most-watched Thunder game ever in the Tulsa area. Within the 22-county Tulsa television market, the overall rating was a 13.9. At 10:45 p.m., the rating crested at 18.4. Each rating point equals 5,300 households. At 10:45, the game was seen in an estimated total of 97,520 area households.
By more than 10,000 households, the Monday total surpassed the previous largest Tulsa audience for a Thunder telecast (last week’s Game 2).
“That’s a big number,” Trook said. “If the Thunder advances (to the NBA Finals), the numbers could be Super Bowl-esque. They’ve got to win four more.”
In the Western Conference finals, the Thunder is matched with the San Antonio Spurs. Each game in the series is televised by TNT.
Anticipating possible Thunder involvement, local advertisers already are buying NBA Finals spots from KTUL. Trook says the station is 60 percent ahead of last year’s sales total for the Dallas-Miami NBA Finals.
“And we’re talking about NBA basketball – a sports still new to a lot of Oklahomans,” Trook said. “From advertisers, we’re seeing tons more interest in the Finals than in any previous year.”
In Oklahoma City, the television rating for Game 5 was a staggering 40.4. It peaked at 45.6.
If more than 97,000 Tulsa-area households sampled Game 5 of the Thunder-Lakers series, how does that audience compare to other big-ticket telecasts?
The 2011 Bedlam football game (KTUL) was watched in an estimated total of 213,060 area households.
The 2011 OU-Texas football game (KTUL) was watched in 155,290 area households.
The final round of this year’s Masters golf tournament (KOTV channel 6) was watched in 32,860 area households.
-- Bill Haisten
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