Turner Sports announced its telecast plans Thursday for the
2011 NBA Playoffs, with 40-plus games on TNT including the Eastern Conference
Finals.
TNT's coverage begins Sunday, April 17 with a tripleheader
starting at 1 p.m.: San Antonio Spurs v. Memphis Grizzlies, followed by New
York Knicks v. Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder v. Denver Nuggets.
The network is enjoying its most-watched and highest-rated
season in its 27 years of airing NBA basketball, averaging a 1.6 U.S. household
rating (up 45% from last year) and 2.45 million total viewers (up 42%).
TNT also aired three of the top five most-watched NBA
regular season games in cable TV history, no doubt helped by a season of
continuous dramatic storylines that included LeBron James' "Decision" to join
the Miami Heat, Shaquille O'Neal joining the Boston Celtics and the Carmelo Anthony
trade that led to the resurgence of the New York Knicks. "There has been no
shortage of good material, shall we say," notes Christina Miller, SVP, Turner
Sports strategy/marketing/programming.
This year also marks the first time in 21 years (since 1990)
that the top five media markets will be represented with teams in the playoffs,
which means even if the post-season doesn't live up to the hype, there will
likely be a large amount of viewer interest.
"You just don't know, I think that's why people tune in at
the level that they do," Miller says. "Naturally we want there to be as many
games as possible. I can only imagine that they're going to step it up for
playoffs."
TNT had an expanded audience on which to market its NBA
playoff coverage this year, cross promoting on every NCAA game that aired
across Turner networks and even the finals on CBS during March Madness.
In addition to the coverage on TNT, Turner's NBA TV will
have four to 11 first-round playoffs games, including:
April 19 - Atlanta @ Orlando, 7:30 pm
April 20 - Memphis @ San Antonio, 8:30 pm
April 21 - Chicago @ Indiana, 7:00 pm
April 25 - San Antonio @ Memphis or Portland @ Dallas, TBA
Full broadcast schedule for TNT below:
2011 NBA PLAYOFFS ON TNT (all times ET)
Sunday, April 17
1 p.m. -- Memphis Grizzlies @ San Antonio Spurs (Game #1)
7 p.m. -- New York Knicks @ Boston Celtics (Game #1)
9:30 p.m. -- Denver Nuggets @ Oklahoma City Thunder (Game
#1)
Monday, April 18
7 p.m. -- Philadelphia 76ers @ Miami Heat (Game #2)
9:30 p.m. -- Indiana Pacers @ Chicago Bulls (Game #2)
Tuesday, April 19
7 p.m. -- New York Knicks @ Boston Celtics (Game #2)
9:30 p.m. -- Portland Trail Blazers @ Dallas Mavericks (Game
#2)
Wednesday, April 20
8 p.m. -- Denver Nuggets @ Oklahoma City Thunder (Game #2)
10:30 p.m. -- New Orleans Hornets @ Los Angeles Lakers (Game
#2)
Thursday, April 21
8 p.m. -- Miami Heat @ Philadelphia 76ers (Game #3)
10:30 p.m. -- Dallas Mavericks @ Portland Trail Blazers
(Game #3)
Saturday, April 23
2:30 p.m. -- Chicago Bulls @ Indiana Pacers (Game #4)
5 p.m. -- Dallas Mavericks @ Portland Trail Blazers (Game
#4)
Sunday, April 24
7 p.m. -- Orlando Magic @ Atlanta Hawks (Game #4)
9:30 p.m. -- Los Angeles Lakers @ New Orleans Hornets (Game
#4)
