As anticipated, more viewership has resulted from the Portland Trail Blazers’ switch to the Rip City Television Network.
According to Nielsen numbers, the Blazers had the most viewers in the NBA, up 68% over the previous season, according to the Sports Business Journal.
This is a significant change from the previous season, when the Blazers led the NBA in viewership declines of 49%.
The change was made for obvious reasons. In an effort to expand their audience, the Blazers broke away from Root Sports before to the previous season and joined forces with Sinclair Broadcast Group to establish their own network.
According to Kevin Kinghorn, the chief marketing officer for the Blazers, that was undoubtedly the goal: to try and increase fan success during games.
There are clear reasons why the idea was successful. Many fans were turned off when Xfinity forced Root Sports onto a more expensive tier package, causing the Blazers’ distribution to drop to 20%. Additionally, the 2023–24 club went 21–61, one of the four worst seasons in the team’s history.
The Blazers had a 100% reach in the Portland area after moving to Sinclair.
We wanted to definitely address that since it has been a long-standing grievance for the fans, Kinghorn stated.
It is anticipated that viewership will continue to grow.
Although we’re happy with where we are at the moment, Kinghorn stated that we anticipate more expansion.
After the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Sacramento Kings 108-102 in an NBA game played at Moda Center on Thursday, February 6, 2025, guard Anfernee Simons was interviewed.Meagher, Sean/The Oregonian
Many fans were perplexed as to where and how to get the Blazers broadcasts due to the quick rollout that occurred just before the season. Fans could now watch games with a basic TV antenna thanks to the switch to Sinclair. However, reaching all possible viewers with that information wasn’t instantaneous. Furthermore, the switch to KUNP was delayed until January, following the start of the games’ broadcast on KATU Charge 2.2.
According to the Blazers, BlazerVision currently has over 6,000 subscribers, and that figure is only projected to grow.
“I believe that people will get used to our location,” Kinghorn stated.
Ratings have also increased as a result of the club playing a more thrilling style of basketball this season. Before winning 10 of 11 games in a recent run that put them back in the postseason hunt, the Blazers started the season 13-28. During the run, broadcast ratings increased by 27%.
According to Kinghorn, “fans get to know these players when they see an exciting team on the court.” They are also some of the best basketball players and people in the world. Ratings will rise because it’s an exciting moment.
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Aaron J. Fentress | [email protected]|@AaronJFentress (Facebook), @AaronFentress (Instagram), and @AaronJFentress (Twitter)
