CLEVELAND, Aug. 25 – For the first time in team history, the Cleveland Cavaliers will have every regular-season game televised. All 82 games of the 2004-05 regular season will be aired on either FSN Ohio, WUAB 43 “The Block”, ABC, ESPN, NBA TV or TNT.
FSN Ohio will air 40 games and WUAB 43 “The Block” and the Cavaliers Television Network will air 30 games during the 2004-05 season. FSN Ohio will show 27 home games and 13 away games while WUAB 43 “The Block” will televise nine home games and 21 away games.
“This broadcast schedule marks yet another milestone in Cavaliers history. It is an exciting time for the franchise and fans alike to have all 82 games broadcast on television for the first time ever,” Cavaliers Team President Len Komoroski said. “Our broadcast network has tripled in size over the last year, and we expect viewership to increase again this season to an all-time high.”
The Cavaliers experienced the largest season-to-season attendance increase in league history last season at Gund Arena. The number of fans watching on television also increased dramatically. The final 2003-04 average cable broadcast rating on FSN Ohio (40 games) increased 283% to 4.6 from 1.2 the prior season. The final 2003-04 average over-the-air broadcast rating on WUAB 43 “The Block” (30 games) increased 233% to 6.0 from 1.8. Both the FSN Ohio and WUAB 43 “The Block” increases represented the largest ratings jumps in the NBA last season.
This season 31 games will be broadcast on the national television outlets of ABC (4), ESPN (9), NBA TV (9) and TNT (9). All four ABC games are exclusive while six of TNT’s nine games are exclusive. On several occasions, Cavaliers games will be shown both by a national television outlet and locally.
FSN Ohio will air the season opener against the 2003-04 regular season wins leader, the Indiana Pacers, on Wednesday, November 3 at 7 p.m.
“As this new and exciting era of Cavaliers basketball moves forward, FSN Ohio is thrilled to once again have a great line-up of programming for fans this year,” said Steve Liverani, Senior Vice President and General Manager of FSN Ohio.
Michael Reghi will once again handle the play-by-play duties for FSN Ohio. This will be Reghi’s 11th season doing play-by-play for FSN Ohio. Former Cavalier great Mark Price joins Reghi in his first season as the analyst for FSN Ohio.
FSN Ohio will also air a pregame show called Cavaliers Countdown with Jeff Phelps and Austin Carr and a postgame show called Cavaliers in the Post with Andy Baskin and Austin Carr as part of every game broadcast. FSN Ohio reaches more than 4.5 million households in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, western Pennsylvania, western New York and West Virginia.
WUAB 43 “The Block” kicks off their coverage on November 6 at 8:30 p.m. when the Cavaliers travel to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks. WUAB 43 “The Block” will also feature the Cavaliers’ March 6 match up with Shaquille O’Neal and the Miami Heat.
"We are proud to continue our longstanding relationship with the Cleveland Cavaliers, to bring viewers the highly anticipated 2004-05 Cavaliers season,” said Bill Applegate, Vice President and General Manager of WOIO/WUAB-TV. “This season is destined to be a classic, filled with memorable, must-see performances by a team that's stronger on the court than ever."
Reghi will also handle the play-by-play duties for WUAB 43 “The Block”, marking his ninth season with the station. Cavaliers’ legend Austin Carr returns for his seventh season as the full-time analyst. Nineteen telecasts will feature a live half-hour pregame show called Cavaliers Warm-up on WUAB 43 “The Block”.
WUAB 43 “The Block” is broadcast throughout Cleveland, Akron, Columbus, Canton, Youngstown and other parts of Ohio. Other key outlets on the Cavaliers Television Network are GTN Pax 51 in Columbus, WB 64 in Cincinnati, WRCX in Dayton, WLQP in Lima, and WBGN in Pittsburgh, PA.
All 82 games will again be broadcast live on the Cavaliers radio flagship NewsRadio WTAM 1100 with Joe Tait calling the action. Tait will be returning for his 33rd season as the voice of the Cavaliers. Mike Snyder also returns for his 13th year as radio network studio host.