Why are TV ratings down for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season?

Why are TV ratings down for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season?

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The Cavs Are Back In Action tonight take on the Orlando Magic and whether you’re going to the game whether you’re watching via B watching via somehow other stream whatever you may want to call it uh the Cavs are back and I saw a report over the weekend the Orlando Magic

Actually tweeted out this report because their local TV numbers are through the roof this season on the flip side there are some local markets that are not doing very well in the TV rating Steve you can take this graphic F the Blazers from last year to this year are down

Almost 50% in local TV viewership that makes sense they’re terrible and they traded away Dame Lillard the Nets also an objective dumpster fire in Brooklyn their TV ratings are down the Wizards are a comical joke each night they play no wonder no one’s watching but the Cleveland Cavaliers are second in the

Eastern Conference they’re 36 and 17 and their local TV viewership is down 16% from this time last year why do you think so the guy go ahead G you got a thought on this because because look you know the Cavs used to come on local packaging and

Local plans for free and with your Fox Sports Ohio forever and you should just you should be on you could get it on your stream you could get on Direct TV you could get it on on on your on your regular whe whether you you Spectrum or it’s still on most of those

Things no it’s not it’s on Direct TV it’s it’s not on D it’s not on YouTube TV it’s not on YouTube TV that’s correct so and you you look at it and then now they put it on the B app right you gotta have B the B’s app is trash it crashes

All the time but last year was the same thing why why is it down from last year if that was the case be because not only last year caps had some excitement they got Donovan Mitchell in the beginning of the year they had a really good year then

They got smoked in the playoffs yeah then this year starts and the the B’s app is horrible you’re like man like there’s no no there’s no bells and whistles to it B ends up folding and closing there’s games where I tried to watch and I purchased the B’s app right

Can’t even open it wouldn’t even open it like it’s crazy and I’m like people like it’s just it just seems like an empty app where they put no infrastructure into it there’s no it and like you know B I bet you the I bet you the guardian

Stuff is down too man how you got how I see it I look at it like this and everyday households the co the cost of living is going up meanwhile like the money that’s coming into your household is not meeting where the cost of living is and so families are prioritizing and

Budgeting on what’s important B is trash you got to pay to watch your team locally that’s that’s but you’ve had to pay forever but I’m getting to a point that’s that’s BS so I think it’s down because like how you said you had to pay forever but the world is changing man

Things cost a lot of money like just to survive make it every day feed your family get back and forth to work like people not going to spend that extra 10 1213 a month on B no matter how much they might want to watch the Cavs boy

When I grew up I didn’t have cable I a matter of fact we didn’t have cable in my household till I was like 15 16 years old it was other things that was more important the Cav struck a deal uh to return to wuab for five games this

Season and that’s where the Cavs used to play at all the time I’ll be curious if those games have better rating I I honestly believe that the C should be able to be viewed on local television all the time right I I do I think all their games should be on like

19 Action News which is the new wuab that’s where all they Games should be at or even better be on WKYC I just think it’s unfair for this team to be this damn good and the fans can’t even engage in it and take part in the excitement cuz they possibly can’t

Afford to do so now obviously the affordability of having having a cable package or a satellite package or just a B’s app is a factor I don’t I don’t I I don’t know I don’t necessarily buy that that’s a I don’t see why that’s a factor compared to last year in fact

Inflation is down prices on a lot of things are coming down um the economy contrary to to nonsense put out there is better than it’s been in a while can I can I can I throw this to to you because I just thought about this yeah so

So they here’s how they get you yeah before you used to be able to watch all the local teams right they make you choose now so we talked about it before the season start Direct TV didn’t have the Browns right so it forces you to pay

The $100 have Sunday have so the Browns are blacked out so you had to pay 100 for YouTube TV now YouTube TV doesn’t have the cash right so are you going to pay Direct TV that is the biggest thing now you can watch you could watch the

Browns on Direct TV yes not at a market yes but could watch them in Cleveland because you have the networks I think that’s the biggest thing I think there are a lot of people in Cleveland and all over the country that switched from Direct TV or cable to YouTube TV when the football

Season started because even if you’re just a Browns fan a lot of football fans like to watch other games you wanted to Sunday Ticket so you a lot I think a lot I was one of these people I had Direct TV forever and I switched to YouTube TV

In September because I wanted to be able to watch the Sunday Ticket and I think like me a lot of people at the beginning of the Season were like well the Cavs were exciting last year they let us down so I’m not going to watch them this year

We’ll see you later in the year or I’ll watch them if they’re on ESPN or NBA TV and I was one of those people I early in the season I wasn’t watching the Cavs and now I’ve been finding ways to watch the Cavs whatever um and they’ve been on

National TV a little bit lately but when I come back from my vacation I’m GNA get direct I I just canceled my YouTube TV got and I’m GNA get Direct TV again because I want to watch the Cavs and obviously I want to watch the Guardians I legit don’t think there’s no wrong

Answer here right I think well because it’s a combination of things it’s a combination of things cuz to like will bu eluded to right let’s say you’re a person who just checked out didn’t have no faith but now you are excited and you don’t you do want to watch but you can’t

Afford to so now you still can’t watch right and so I I just think to me I think and I could be wrong I just from where I stand yeah I think the economy plays a large part but the econom is in good shape right now I mean you might

Say that I’m just being honest like I’m just being honest of what I see I can only go for what I see is it any different than last year or the year before here worse man so the Eon employment is its lowest rate in years I

Think see here’s the thing I I think unemployment it’s the difference between being unemployed and underemployed fair when you’re underemployed and you got to work two jobs to make what you should at one it’s tough but listen the economy has had its issues since the pandemic it’s been an issue I obviously cost

Afford and but prices have gone up on the all these Cable packages and you used to cut the cord to save money and now you’re not really saving money because so yes I think that’s a factor and I definitely think that’s a factor I think that’s a factor certainly the

Switch to YouTube TV is a factor because you can’t watch B on YouTube TV and the fact that the team felt like they Sucker Punch us last year I think early in the season had people less interested I would guess that the last month the Cavs ratings have been better than the than

The previous month and they’ll be better in the last 29 games the way I had to do it was uh I had you I had for the longest time to Direct TV stream right and uh for the longest time I had it and then one day I we was a preseason game

Or something and it was like yeah the Browns game ain’t on TV and I was like oh that’s unacceptable like that’s we’re by so but I so I PID I pay the cable and and the sports package you know what I’m saying for my um my my dad like they’re on a

Fixed income like he not about to spend $300 a month on on just watching games that’s all the heck he want to do he retired yeah so there’s it’s $1 19999 for the B pack package right so you pay that to watch the Cavs game YouTube TV

Is probably like $89 and that’s just a regular package that giv that does not include the guardian Guardians the minimum you could spend for like fubo or Direct TV stream to get the Cavs and Guardians is like about 100 bucks there so you and then I’m doing

What you doing now you actually have to be active you can’t just sign up for something and just take it you got to like right now there’s a lot of people who who say they don’t want baseball but the B app give you more bang for your

Buck because for 1999 think about how many Guardians games I don’t know that you can watch the Guardians on the B app believe it or not I did last year you did yeah last last year last year I got the B app and I was able to watch it but

The B app sucks but you got it’s the worst I also got T-Mobile and then like T-Mobile do uh does these like T-Mobile perks T-Mobile Tuesdays yeah and I know last year they gave away a free year of mlbt they’ve been doing that for a long time typically like the local games are

Blacked out but the Guardians games were not blacked out and by the way I just now thought of something too yeah and and this is this I like these good conversations about economics and stuff here’s the thing YouTube TV okay you ain’t got it but YouTube has the best

Thing in the world you can you can watch a 10minute recap of Major League Baseball games or a 12 minute recap of basketball games completely free and you’re not missing nothing much you and so a lot of people are going on and say okay let me just check the recap they

Give you the big plays the major plays they give you the the crunch time plays plus they cut out all the other garbage M MLB needs to have like there’s an MLB Extra Innings package but usually the local team is blacked out when I’ve gotten it Direct TV you’re saying the

T-Mobile it wasn’t I was thinking about switching to T-Mobile just to get that package forget that it’s the 10 to 15 off the gas p uh I get the gas perks like I’ve had Verizon since the beginning I’m afraid to switch you know like I I try not to I’m an emotional

Dude right and so a lot so a lot of things come from but it be like man I get the whole dollars and cents when it come to TV deals and things like that I don’t know what the Cav TV deal look like next year but whatever TV deal that they strike up

They need to have something in place to where cast fans locally in Cleveland nor Ohio can watch every single cast game on local TV you know what the thing is this shouldn’t be a thing some teams have started doing that and the Phoenix Suns are Trailblazers in that category when Matt ishbia bought

The team yeah he said I want everyone to be able to watch the product so he I don’t know exactly excuse me this is not 100% like word for word how he did it but I believe he bought a bunch of over the like antenna 11.1 channels and the

Suns games are broadcast just over if you have an antenna he has his own channel it’s but it’s just for the Suns it’s like they they were able to make the Suns Games available to anyone who wanted to watch without having to pay for an app or without having to have I

Think I would think that and I don’t know enough about this but I would think that if they said hey we’re going to put the Cavs on whether it’s Channel whether it’s us here channel 3 or channel five or eight or 19 that you could charge more to advertise on those games because

More people will watch I I never understood this is where we need Jay Crawford for I never understood if you’re a billionaire and you control this team and the messaging why would you not have my your own channel yeah and in charge for just advertising like

Like because you you you get the product away for free right so well some do it doesn’t always work the Cub started like the Yankees have had their own channel for a while the Cubs started their own channel the pandemic year and I don’t think they’re making a ton of money on

It plus I believe it or not like I can’t get the Cubs channel in Cleveland like why would you not have it that I couldn’t get it but but but I never understood why everybody like here we always got the Braves games right on TBS and Cubs on

So I was so I was confused like to me like there was games where we couldn’t like if if we wasn’t watching something that’s why everybody knew what the Braves was like everybody knew the Braves roster like I’m like why is the Braves and the Hawks on all the dog

Right so I mentioned the Suns yeah so this is the timeline so Matt ishbia bought a team yeah they were being broadcast through Diamond Sports Group which is part of B yeah man isia said no not doing that cut ties with them fired them they’re now broadcasting 70 of their 82

Games on Gray TV which is their local affiliate that’s awesome in here’s the better part the Suns had a link on their website that Arizona residents could click and the Suns would ship them a free digital antenna to their house wow to get the game that’s amazing so it it

Was broadcast via bunny ears but you could get said bunny ears if you didn’t have it that’s a great own Sons that’s a great owner taking care of his fans now money in the long R but who cares if he’s taking care of the fans we don’t

Care if you’re making money I you know what’s so crazy bu like I just don’t maybe it’s progressives right yeah maybe it’s just the mindset if you have $4 billion why are you still talking about making millions you’re a billionaire yeah like what like it doesn’t like yeah

You don’t need to make money on everything like regular people we go to work they give us a check yeah and we keep coming back to work why is it that you got to make money hand over fist on every transaction I don’t know I can’t

Get into the mind of a billionaire it seems like just greed to me I I don’t know but yeah I don’t know if we’re ever going to have an you know the majority of C Cavs games CU yeah you’re right when I was a kid I watched the Mets and

The Yankees on free TV it was Channel 9 and channel 11 I would watch the games you never have to pay for it and now you got to pay for everything and that’s the way of the world and unfortunately the case and there are people that can’t

Afford it and that sucks does it did did that well I ask you about baseball didn’t that hurt do you believe that hurt the the the the national you know passion for the game like when I grew up there was multiple teams that were on all the time I didn’t pay for those

Channels right and now like you said we haven’t even started talking about peacock and Amazon right well that’s the thing with football at least you can watch your home team if you live in Market I mean most people have at least some level of basic C but you can watch it

For free anyway go ahead Mike no I just wanted to put a little bow on that and get ready to talk a little Guardians because they’re still on the B app and I guess you can watch through the B app or you can’t watch Guardians games you

Couldn’t but Earl says you can no real quick I remember like like I said I a have cable so I used to watching Castle W UAB all the time and Mike forell was the head coach and he used to do his little segment and you would see Jeff

Phelps sitting up there doing the whole cast free game so like no more Jeff I think that’s why the ratings are down too Jeff’s not and we miss we all miss Fred McLoud who passed way a couple years ago yeah that is that that was tough anyway go ahead man

The Cleveland Cavaliers are one of the best teams in the NBA this season, but you would not know that just by looking at their TV ratings.

According to the SportsBusinessJournal, the Cavs TV ratings are down 16 percent from this time last year, which is among the biggest drop offs in the NBA.

Why are TV ratings down despite the success on the court? The UCSS panel debates:

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