[CHRONIC] Houston ranks last for TV markets' major-sports coverage

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/6299676.html

Viewing patterns, demographics among myriad of reasons for lackluster ratings

Since troubled times call for solutions that are bold, imaginative and, yes, sarcastic, and since big-time sports events can be and are used as an analogy for anything under the sun, perhaps Houston’s track record as a sports TV town can provide the solution to our ongoing economic malaise.

Here’s the plan: Promote the recession as you would promote a Super Bowl or NBA Finals, and then plaster it non-stop on Houston TV.

If we treat it like we do the Super Bowl, World Series and Masters, chances are the downturn will be done in a couple of months for lack of interest.

When it comes to sports TV viewing, after all, Houston treats pretty much every big-time event with a barely stifled yawn.

For 2008-09, in fact, this was the worst market in the country, based on an analysis of Nielsen Media Research ratings for 10 significant events — the Daytona 500, NCAA Tournament basketball title game, final round of the Masters, Kentucky Derby, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup finals, the 2008 Olympics, World Series, the Bowl Championship Series title game and Super Bowl XLIII.

In seven of 10 events, Houston ranked in the bottom 10 among the 56 major markets, finishing 54th for the Olympics, 55th for the Super Bowl and dead last for the Stanley Cup. The only events for which it escaped the bottom 10 were the NBA Finals (17th), the NCAA Tournament final between Kansas and Memphis (37th) and the BCS title game between Florida and Oklahoma (26th).

Based on the Chronicle’s analysis of Nielsen’s rankings, Orlando, Fla., was the top market for the 10 events, with an average ranking of 15.9. Nashville, Tenn., Indianapolis, Fort Myers, Fla., and Richmond, Va., rounded out the top five. Houston had an average ranking of 44th and was in the bottom five by Seattle, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose.

Postseason problems play role
There are any number of reasons for Houston’s woeful finish, including the bedraggled postseason state of the city’s pro and college teams.

On the professional front, the Texans’ best finish is 8-8 in seven seasons, the Astros have failed to make the playoffs since 2005 and the Tracy McGrady-era Rockets are perennial first-round playoff flops.

Houston, of course, has not always been a wasteland for big-time sports events.

In 2005, KRIV (Channel 26) averaged a 41.2 average Nielsen rating for the World Series between the Astros and Chicago White Sox. In subsequent years, only Boston and St. Louis have had higher ratings for home teams in the World Series.

No locals, however, means no interest in the Fall Classic. The Phillies-Devil Rays series averaged 5.6 on Channel 26, which ranked 50th in the nation.

Football can move the ratings needle here, too. When Vince Young led Texas to the Rose Bowl against Southern California after the 2005 college football season, Houston fans watched in droves. That game averaged a 35.2 rating on KTRK (Channel 13), beating Los Angeles by a half-point. National championship games featuring Oklahoma in 2009 and LSU in 2008, however, managed less than half that.

In February 2004, Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium produced a 51.4 rating on KHOU (Channel 11), one of the best ratings ever for a Super Bowl host city. Tampa-St. Petersburg, by comparison, averaged just 49.2 for Super Bowl XLIII, but that dwarfed KPRC’s (Channel 2) 34.3 rating for the Steelers’ win over the Cardinals.

Network affiliations also can affect ratings. Houston has long been a stronghold for ABC programs on KTRK and for CBS shows on KHOU while lagging 19 percent below the national average for Fox shows on KRIV and underperforming by 24 percent for NBC programs on KPRC , according to figures for the 2007-08 TV season.

NBC this year had four of the 10 sports events measured, including the Super Bowl, and Fox had two. In each case, Houston stations significantly underperformed when compared to the major-market Nielsen average, which dragged the city’s average to the bottom of the list.

Previous sarcasm aside, none of this should be construed as an argument that all Houston viewers are averse to televised sports. In fact, sports events accounted for 26 of the 30 shows that drew the most total viewers on Houston TV in 2008. The only non-sports events among the 30 most-watched shows, each of which drew more than 475,000 viewers, were the Academy Awards, the Latin Grammy Awards and two episodes of American Idol.

Houston’s poor showing for the 10 big events also doesn’t mean fans have abandoned local teams. Through the NBA All-Star break, Rockets games on Fox Sports Houston and KTXH (Channel 20) ranked ninth in average rating among NBA home markets. Astros games on FSH last season ranked 19th among the 30-plus local TV packages that included at least 50 games, finishing in the middle of the pack for a team that finished in the middle of the pack. The Texans, however, lagged , ranking 29th among the 32 NFL team averages.

The NBA leaders this season are, to no one’s surprise, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on the NBA front, followed by the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers, both of which are the only major league franchises in their respective home cities.

In baseball, the Boston Red Sox remain the gold standard. Red Sox games on NESN average a 10.1 rating. St. Louis, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Milwaukee were other top markets for local baseball broadcasts in 2008. In the NFL, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis are the top markets .

Box-office totals for Houston’s three major league teams also remain strong. The Texans ranked 11th in the NFL in average attendance in 2008, and the Astros were 12th last year in Major League Baseball after finishing in the top 10 the four previous years. The Rockets rank 16th in the league but play to 96.1 percent of the house, which exceeds the league average.

Other big cities fare similarly
The primary reasons for the sluggish sports ratings are likely Houston’s size and its ethnic mix. With more than 2 million TV households in the Houston market area, sheer size dictates that no event will capture a large percentage of viewers. Similarly, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, the three largest markets in the country, are in the bottom 10 for sports ratings alongside Houston, which is the nation’s fourth-largest city and 10th-largest TV market.

As for the nature of Houston TV viewers, “Diversity,” said one analyst, “is not necessarily the best thing for sports ratings.” Of the bottom 11 markets in the 2008-09 sports index, all but Raleigh, N.C., and Seattle are among the nation’s largest Hispanic TV markets. Houston ranks fourth in that category behind Los Angeles, New York and Miami.

That same demographic makeup, however, can produce significant ratings for international soccer, particularly matches involving the Mexican national team.

The most recent World Cup qualifier between Mexico and the United States, for example, produced an 8.3 household rating on KXLN (Channel 45), which was higher than Houston’s ratings for Daytona, the Masters, Kentucky Derby, Stanley Cup and the World Series.

These numbers are subject to change from year to year. Title runs by the Astros or Rockets would likely boost Houston out of the cellar, as would a Super Bowl appearance by the Cowboys or Texans.