PBA TV ratings on ‘5’ improve

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is not only making a killing at the gates but on television ratings as well.

In the last television survey conducted by AGB Nielsen, league coveror ABC-5 garnered increased viewership percentage on PBA games in both its primetime and non-primetime slots.

Primetime viewership of the games increased by 24 percent this conference compared to last season while non-primetime viewers rose to a whooping 56 percent.

Both ratings on non-primetime during weekends and weekdays also registered considerable increase of 60 and 59 percent, respectively.

The survey was made from the period Oct. to Nov. 26.

"We’re very happy about this latest development and we owe it to the millions of fans who have kept supporting the PBA for years," said league commissioner Noli Eala.

The upsurge in TV viewership came at a time when the PBA is also enjoying a banner season which saw the league reach new highs in both in its gate attendance and sales records.

The move to air provincial games on Saturdays also proved to be a wise decision on the part of ABC-5 as viewership also increased by 52 percent, or a significant rise of 3.5 percent from 2.2 percent.

The current San Mig Coffee-PBA Fiesta Conference garnered an average program rating increase of 4.2 percent compared to the 3.4 percent share it enjoyed during the same stretch last season in the 2005 Gran Matador conference.

Games involving crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra remain as the most watched by viewers followed by San Miguel and Purefoods.

The Beermen’s dramatic climb from the cellar behind a five-game winning streak was also a hit among spectators while games involving Purefoods also had its share of audience hoping to take a glimpse on Giant star James Yap and beau, TV and movie personality Kris Aquino.

One of the most watched games so far in the conference was the first meeting between Ginebra and Sta. Lucia which features the highly-anticipated match up between Mark Caguioa and rookie Alex Cabagnot.

Other interesting highlights of the survey:

• The current conference enjoys more male audience, a jump of 32 percent while female share also rose to 23 percent compared to last year’s Gran Matador Cup.

• The biggest audience growth is among the 16-24 age bracket, logging in a 46 percent uptake.

• Next to the 16-24 year bracket, the "below 16-year old " group recorded a growth of 33 percent.

• Sunday games generally delivered better weekend viewership to all teams compared to Saturday.