Ranting & Rating: Followill On Mavs TV Numbers

The Nielsens Are Down, But Dallas Is A Streak Away From A Spike

Mike Fisher -- DB.com

   The local Nielsen TV ratings are in for the so-far NBA season. The results for the Mavs? You’re still watching. But they’re not.

   Our buddy Mark Followill, a centerpiece of the telecasts as the Mavs’ gifted play-by-play man, joins me in offering logical explanations:

   “I guarantee you we are working just as hard if not harder than when our rating were through the roof when the Mavs were winning 67 games,’’ Followill tells DallasBasketball.com. “We’re just like the basketball team itself in that they’re working hard to get better and we are, also.’’

    Let me interject a point here about the “ratings’’ of DallasBasketball.com. Last Thursday, on NBA trade deadline day, DB.com/DB.com Boards was visited by 32,000 people. That’s twice the number of people who subscribed to read the fine work of the Denton Record-Chronicle that day. … meaning DB.com is bigger than the each of the first two newspapers I worked for in my career as an ink-stained wretch.

   Why did we attract 32,000 visitors? In addition to the fact that we serve free coffee with every fill-up, that day – trade deadline day – promised something fresh and new and sexy.

   So it is with the Mavs and TV ratings. This season is a continuation of what the Mavs have been for the better part of a decade now: A damn good product and a damn good team. You know, 8X50 and all that. But rating spikes usually come with a hook. A lure. A tease. It’s about Omarosa getting fired by Trump, it’s about “The Bachelor’’ going for a threesome, it’s about “stay tuned for the most thrilling moment in TV history!’’

    It’s about LeBron James and the promise of a first-ever title for Cleveland.

    I think we can assume that a year ago, when Kidd came to town, ratings showed a spike. (Fresh, new, sexy!) I think we can assume that when Dallas started the season against Houston and Cleveland, ratings spiked again. (Fresh, new, sexy!) And I think we can assume that when Dallas goes into its final stretch of games this season, battling for a playoff berth or, better, jostling its way up the ladder to the fourth spot, ratings will jump again. (Fresh, new, sexy!)

   Says Followill: “Everyone involved from announcers to our producer and director and the rest of the crew cares very deeply about their jobs and we're obviously disappointed the ratings are down. Some things are beyond our control. What we can control though are things like the effort and energy we put
behind it.’’

   He’s right, of course. The Mavs are down a bit from last year and it’s not about camera angles or Skin or the absence of Laura Green (I don’t think). The production team is the same as it has been, and it is award-worthy. Followill is among the very best in the business (when will the networks come sniffing around for this kid?) and Bob Ortegel is an institution. Our friend Skin is part of a promotion/experiment who brings to TV the same hep-funny vibe he used to bring to DB.com when he wrote stuff here. (And it’s a compliment to the personal qualities of Mark and Bob and Skin that they are making the promotion/experiment fly chemistry-wise.)

   OK, maybe we miss Laura Green trying to hide the fact that her halftime interview with an assistant coach was usually with an assistant coach who doubled as her husband. … but that doesn’t account for a 25-percent dip in ratings!

    It’s all about fresh, new, sexy, about the team capturing the imagination of the public. … which can still happen for this team this year, of course.

   “We've got many talented guys behind the scenes and personally I think we do some things that are pretty imaginative and creative that make for compelling television,’’ Followill says. “Hopefully that will
continue to happen and we'll both see positive results from it between now and the end of the year.’’

   Mavs owner Mark Cuban is as media-savvy as they come, and obviously understands all this. There is room for experimentation and there is room to acknowledge that the foundation is terrific.

   It’s funny this would come out now, on the heels of last night’s “Mavericks Insider’’ pregame show on ESPN 103.3 Radio. I sat in along with Wally Lynn, and the special guest was Ted Davis, the Bucks play-by-play man. And we got to discussing how lousy the Mavs were back in 1993 or so – when Ted was the Mavs’ play-by-play guy. And how difficult it was for Ted to “sound good.’’

   As I mentioned on the broadcast: In 1989, Dale Hansen received all sorts of hate mail for the crummy job he was doing as the color man on radio broadcasts of the 1-15 Cowboys. Boy, Hansen sucked. Wasn’t insightful. Wasn’t exciting. Wasn’t even funny.

    Somehow, in the 1992 season, Dale Hansen miraculously improved as a broadcaster and became beloved for his insight, passion and humor.

    One of the goals – because it’s about television and revenue and ratings and eyeballs – is to be “fresh, new and sexy!’’ The audience that is reading this article doesn’t need that. You’re here all the time in front of your computer (whether it’s deadline day or not) and you’re there all the time in front of your TV and you’re still watching. But they’re not. The Mavs – with their media-savvy owner, their award-worthy TV production team and their terrific work from Followill and Ortegel and company -- are a winning streak away from re-capturing the missing them.

239pm feb 26 2009