Look for TV to Turn Up the Heat

Whether you love or loathe LeBron James, odds are good you’ll be seeing a lot of DWade & Co. on TV next season.

Expect TNT, ESPN and ABC to fall all over themselves to get Miami Heat games on their schedules because ratings will be huge. Curiousity about whether or not the Three Amigos will be the backbone of a superteam will surely bring basketball fans. Other viewers might tune in to cheer–or boo–a guy who was able to draw 10 million viewers while just sitting in a chair giving dull answers to bad questions.

Brad Adgate predicts that ABC will be looking to give us a Christmas present by getting the league to schedule the Heat against the Cavaliers in Cleveland for a grudge match (Look out! Dan Gilbert has a steel chair) or the Cavaliers against Kobe Bryant and the league champion Lakers.

“Will be a huge rating,” exclaimed Horizon Media’s research expert Brad Adgate via Twitter.

Also likely to get a ratings bump is Sun Sports, the Fox-owned regional sports network that carries Heat games in Florida.

On the other side of the coin, the lottery-bound Cavaliers are unlikely to be in demand by the ABC, TNT and ESPN.  And business at Fox Sports Ohio and WUAB? Ouch!