When Bulls and Lakers Played, Televisions Clicked on All Over
The Chicago Bulls’ victory over the Lakers Friday night, featuring Michael Jordan against Magic Johnson in the second game of his comeback, produced some impressive television numbers.
Prime Sports, for example, got an 11.6 rating, its highest ever. The previous high was a 10.8 for Johnson’s first game back last Tuesday. Prime Sports had been averaging a 3.2 for Laker telecasts before Johnson’s return.
The Bull-Laker clash was also the highest-rated regular-season game on TNT at 7.1. The network estimated that it was seen in 4,745,000 homes.
The previous high was 5.1 on March 28, 1995, for Jordan’s return to Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks, in which he scored 55 points.
Despite Chicago’s easy victory, TNT said Friday’s game was receiving a 7.8 rating as late as 12:30 a.m. Saturday in the East.
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