Infographic Project
100 points

The following is an actual news article about the television ratings race.  Your assignment is to design and create an infographic that would accompany this article.

The infographic may be in any format you choose, but MUST combine both text and graphic elements. Infographics without a graphic component will receive a failing grade.

The infographic is due Wednesday at the beginning of class. It must be turned in on diskette and also on the I: drive. Work from your F: folder and also save a finished copy on a second diskette for yourself as a backup.

Some graphics and clip art have been placed on the graphics page for your use. To download these graphics to your directory on the F: drive, simply click on an image with the RIGHT mouse button.  Choose "save image as...", make sure you are in your directory, and click on "OK." I encourage you to also look for graphics from other sources, including the Internet. Use your imagination!  If you need to scan a graphic, please just let me know and I will show you how.

Use Freehand to create the infographic.

08:24 AM ET 06/11/97

NBA Ratings Bounce NBC's Way

By Tom Bierbaum NEW YORK (Variety) -

Though down 4% from year-ago results, NBC's coverage of the NBA Finals is dazzling the primetime competition and has a legitimate shot at breaking all NBA scoring records this week.

Four games into this year's series, ratings are down slightly from 1996 but are strong enough to propel NBC to a June 2-8 weeklong win -- with a margin of victory that's the widest for any network since Feb. 17-23 (when NBC ran Schindler's List and Asteroid, Part 2). In adults 18-49, NBC enjoyed its biggest bulge since last summer's Olympics.

The previous four NBA series include the highest, second-highest and fourth-highest-rated NBA Finals ever (1993, 1996 and 1991, respectively).

The Bulls have proven hugely popular in four previous appearances in the finals, but the team has never played a ''do-or-die'' game in which it faced elimination. So if the Utah Jazz can win games Wednesday night or Friday and force the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls to face potential elimination, the resulting Nielsens could be the highest in NBA history.

With basketball monopolizing June's dwindling audiences, most of the competition got stuffed last week.

ABC, beset by big weekend woes, slipped to the lowest households rating ever for one of the Big Three in a week not disrupted by the July 4 holiday, a political convention or the Olympics. Still, ABC rated higher than either CBS or Fox in the key adults 18-49 and 25-54 demographics, two of the stronger indicators of overall advertiser demand and revenue.

The week's adults 18-49 averages were: NBC, a 6.6 rating 20 share (down in rating by 11% vs. results for the same week last year); ABC, 3.6/11 (down 18%); Fox, 3.4/11 (up 21%); CBS, 3.1/10 (up 7%); UPN, 1.6/5 (up 14%); WB, 1.1/3 (up 22%).

NBC televised the week's 10 highest-rated shows in the 18-49 demographic, marking the first time a network has swept that top 10 since Nov. 14-20, 1988.

MONDAY

NBC breezed on Monday of this week (June 9), as Dateline NBC (11.8 rating, 21 share) won the 10-11 p.m. hour by 8 shares. The made-for-TV movie Justice for Annie (8.9/16) also led its slot. Fox's new lineup (Mad TV, 4.5/9; the premiere of Ruby Wax, 4.4/8; and two episodes of Married... With Children, 4.4/8 and 4.9/8) slid to that network's lowest Monday 18-49 rating since last Oct. 14 (baseball playoffs), but did improve by 24% on Fox's year-ago Monday average.

SUNDAY

Though down 7% from last year's fourth game (on a Wednesday), basketball won the night for NBC by 16 shares among adults 18-49. Fox was second in that demographic, but CBS easily took second for the night in adults 25-54. ABC's low-rated made-for-TV Movie Without Consent tied CBS' older-skewing Our Son, the Matchmaker in adults 18-49 despite trailing by 6 shares in households.

SATURDAY

Fox captured the night in adults 18-49 while CBS dominated in homes. NBC's Pretender is set to challenge Dr. Quinn this fall, beating Quinn last Saturday in CBS' target demographic, adults 25-54. ABC's Spy Game bumbled to what's apparently the worst regular-programming rating ever that hour for any of the Big Three. That helped knock ABC down to second-lowest-rated night in ABC-CBS-NBC history (beating only ABC's 3.0 from six Saturdays earlier).

FRIDAY

Game 3 of the NBA Finals slam-dunked the competition, improving by 2% on last year's first Friday telecast, the second game of that Chicago-Seattle final (while at the same time slipping 10% below last year's Game 3, telecast on the higher-viewership Sunday). Hoops broke a 28-week winning streak for 20-20in that Friday 10-11 p.m. hour. NBC might want to consider shifting Dateline to the Friday 8-9 p.m. hour permanently. Last week Dateline reported the network's best 18-49 share that hour in the 19 weeks since Dateline last ran there. In fact, those are NBC's two best non-sports results in that hour in nearly 16 months. ABC may pay a price for benching Family Matters (headed to CBS this fall) at 8 p.m. for Step By Step (also headed to CBS but in a different time period). ABC's first try with Step in that slot couldn't equal the 18-49 share of the last five Matters there, despite a firstrun episode. CBS firstruns Dave's World and Life... and Stuff expired with the network's worst 25-54 average that hour since at least last summer.

THURSDAY

NBC's usual Thursday win got a boost from a special firstrun NewsRadio, which built by 3% on its 18-49 lead-in from Friends. That's NBC's second-best build in the slot in 11 weeks. ER declined by 14% vs. its year-ago 18-49 average. Billy Graham preemptions dropped Diagnosis Murder to its lowest regular-slot rating ever.

WEDNESDAY

The highest-rated Game 2 of an NBA Finals in six years kept NBC far ahead for the night. Grace Under Fire, a surprising omission from ABC's fall schedule, tumbled to its lowest rating ever (as did slot rival NewsRadio).

TUESDAY

ABC and NBC tied for the night in adults 18-49, but both these aging lineups were down sharply from the year-ago Tuesday, ABC's by 20% and NBC's by 24%. A firstrun episode of the canceled ABC sitcom Life's Work improved by a potent 24% on its 18-49 lead-in from Roseanne, to lead the 8:30 slot.

MONDAY

Fox outgunned the 18-49 competition with its rerun of Tombstone, but CBS led in homes on Monday, June 2. A firstrun Buffy the Vampire Slayer dug up its best rating since March. Each rating point represents an estimated 970,000 households, or 1% of the country's TV homes. The share is the same sort of percentage, except that it's measured against only the households in which TV is being watched during the timeslot involved. Reuters/Variety