Posted: Mon., Feb. 10, 2003, 5:47pm PT

All-Star game stellar for TNT

Cablecast the third most-watched program for the night

By John Dempsey

Koonin

TNT's ratings for Sunday's NBA All-Star Game had Mad Ave high-fiving.

The NBA All-Star Game delivered a backboard-rattling slam dunk in its first cablecast ever, jump-shooting TNT to a 9.8 rating in the Sunday Nielsen overnights -- the best numbers for a basketball game, college or pro, in the history of cable.

That 9.8 rating in cable homes translates into 4.9 million households, making the three-hour All-Star cablecast the third most-watched program for the night, broadcast or cable, beaten only by an original "Everybody Loves Raymond" special on CBS and an original episode of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" on NBC.

The All-Star Game rating "was a seminal moment for cable," said Steve Koonin, exec VP of TNT. Mixing his sports metaphors, he added, "TNT broke the four-minute-cable mile with this rating."

Madison Avenue was cracking open the party favors because TNT guaranteed what turned out to be an overly conservative 7 rating. The added viewers are pure gravy for the advertisers who bought time in the game.

TNT spent a record $5 million promoting the game with heavy use of TV, radio and print spots, plus another $3 million worth of TNT inhouse promotion.

While declining to comment on the dollar figures, Koonin said: "TNT turned a basketball game into an event, and American love to watch television events. We created appointment television because viewers didn't just discover the game by tuning in at some point during the course of the three hours. The rating started off at a huge 10.1, and basically stayed there."

In pure ratings, Koonin said the TNT cablecast beat the last three telecasts of the All-Star Game on NBC. In 2000, NBC averaged a 6.8 overnight rating with the game and an 8.3 overnight in 2001. Buoyed by running in the middle of the 2002 Winter Olympics, the game jumped to a 9.7 overnight rating in 2002, according to Turner Research. NBC disputed Turner, claiming the 2002 rating actually hit a 9.8, which would tie it with the TNT cablecast in 2003.