The premiere of ESPN’s 30 For 30 documentary This Magic Moment was a success for ESPN. This Magic Moment scored 1.5 million viewers on ESPN on Thursday night according to SportsTVRatings.com.
But who was watching This Magic Moment may surprise you.
According to ESPN Public Relations, Orlando registered 1.0 local TV Rating for This Magic Moment last Thursday. That is around the average Orlando Magic games average on FOX Sports Florida during the season. It was the most watched sports program in Orlando last week.
But as ESPN 30 for 30 commercials would say: What If I told you Orlando was not the top market or even top-five market to watch This Magic Moment?
According to ESPN, Memphis was the number one TV market that watched This Magic Moment followed by Raleigh-Durham, Richmond, New Orleans and Greenville-Spartenburg in South Carolina.
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30 for 30: This Magic Moment
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Market
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DMA Avg Rating
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Memphis
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3.0
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Raleigh-Durham
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2.7
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Richmond
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2.3
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New Orleans
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2.1
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Greenville-Sprtnburg-Ash
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2.0
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Memphis makes sense as Memphis is home to Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, where remains a very popular figure. Hardaway played his college basketball career at Memphis State and coaches high school basketball currently in the Memphis area. ESPN’s E:60 just released a new report updating Hardaway’s growth as a coach and how he became a coach in the first place.
New Orleans also makes sense. New Orleans is in Louisiana where LSU and Shaquille O’Neal are very popular. O’Neal attended LSU in Baton Rouge, La., and remains a fixture on campus, often returning to Louisiana for Tigers games at Tiger Stadium.
Raleigh, Richmond and Greenville come as a surprise though. But perhaps it should not.
The Orlando Magic of the mid-1990s with Shaq and Penny had a national following beyond Florida. The Magic were one of the most popular teams back then as they would be on NBC’s game of the week often led by two mega superstars who transcended basketball.
The fact these two players and this team transcended Orlando and became popular across the nation is one of the reasons 30 for 30 was attracted to doing a story about the Magic.
So maybe it should not come as a suprise that other markets in the South were interested and watched This Magic Moment.
The documentary continues to get rave reviews and is available in its entirety on ESPN3.com and Watch ESPN app.
