The surprising Atlanta Hawks face the Golden State Warriors on Friday night in a battle of the teams with the best records in the NBA.
SportSouth has been a beneficiary of the Hawks' run, which saw the club stay unbeaten in January, have its starting five share the NBA player of the month award, and win 19 games in a row overall.
Through the first 46 telecasts of the 2014-15 season, SportSouth has averaged a 1.9 household rating in the Atlanta DMA, according to Nielsen data. That represented a 73% leap from the 1.1 mark the club's contests averaged through the same point of last season.
The delivery benefited from a network regular-season record 4.7 mark registered on Feb. 2 during the Hawks contest against the New Orleans Pelicans that saw the winning streak came to an end. The Feb. 2 telecast surpassed the regional sports network's previous Hawks' mark: the 4.5 ratings for its win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 23.
During the historic franchise win streak, the Hawks averaged a 2.5 rating on SportSouth, which grew the season average by 29% since the club's last loss on Friday, Dec. 26 against Milwaukee. In January, SportSouth averaged a 2.7 rating in the Atlanta area, making it the RSN's best-ever month with the club.
“It’s difficult to be too disappointed when the Hawks’ 19-game winning streak comes to an end and the team has won 33 of its last 36,” said Jeff Genthner, senior vice president and general manager of Fox Sports South. “There are a lot of games left in this amazing season for Hawks fans to rally around, and every remaining regular season match-up will be on SportSouth.”
Friday night's matchup figures to play well with the Nielsens, as the 41-9 Hawks, featuring Paul Millsap, Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, Al Horford and DeMarre Carroll -- the starters during the first 17-0 month in NBA history -- host the 39-8 Warriors led by Stephon Curry and Klay Thompson.
