It might have made for agonizingly contrived television, but America apparently couldn’t quit LeBron James’ “Decision”. According to ESPN’s Josh Krulewitz, LeBron’s one-hour made-for-TV melodrama drew a 7.3 overnight rating for ESPN, including a 26 rating in Cleveland,12.8 in Miami, 10.7 in Chicago and 10.4 in New York (Seattle was the last market with a 2.4; having your NBA franchise stolen unsurprisingly makes people not care about the NBA).
LeBron’s ‘Decision’ To Leave The Cleveland Cavaliers For The Miami Heat Draws Record Ratings For ESPN
Just to put that in perspective, CNBC’s Darren Rovell points out that the 7.3 rating for “The Decision” was higher than LeBron’s other major national television moment, when the Cavs got swept by the Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals, which only drew a 6.2 rating.
So yes: Stu Scott, Jon Barry, Mike Wilbon and Chris Broussard hemming and hawing about where LeBron James might land, then “congratulating him on his decision”, while James equivocated and answered painfully manufactured “questions” from Jim Gray to draw out the absurdity of it all drew more eyeballs than actual games that decided an actual championship that LeBron James played in. Draw your own conclusions about that.
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