Los Angeles Lakers local television ratings have been down nearly 50 percent

This season for Lakers fan hasn’t exactly been the greatest and well, local television for the Lakers has taken a bit hit. In a report today in Variety.com, it is believed that the local ranking for the Lakers are down nearly 50% from last year: Looking at Nielsen’s “Live plus same-day” ratings for the 2013-14 season, the 57 telecasts of Lakers games on Time Warner Cable SportsNet have averaged 199,000 viewers — down a whopping 49% from last year at this time (390,000). The Lakers’ ratings decline has swelled in recent weeks as even the most optimistic fan had to know that the team wasn’t headed for the postseason. Four of their last seven losses have come by 20 points or more and the three most recent Lakers games have averaged a meager 72,000 viewers; a year ago, games on the comparable dates averaged 586,000, or more than eight times as much. I have a feeling they will be up next season though… *** Nash/Kobe image courtesy of Getty Images