Larger than expected number of people in Shanghai have been spending their mornings watching basketball on TV this week, a trend broadcasters attribute to the "Yao Ming effect."

More than 300,000 Shanghai residents watched Shanghai-native Yao in his first ever NBA playoff game on April 18, according to a ratings report released yesterday by TNS Sport China, a division of CVSC-Sofres Media.

Around 264,000 people in Beijing watched the game while about 80,000 watched in Guangzhou.

The report said ratings are impressive in big cities across the country, but didn't say exactly how many people in China are watching the games.

The series features a battle of the NBA's two best big men, Yao and Shaquille O'Neil.

"Even though we expected high ratings, the results still surprised us," said Zhang Ronghui of TNS. "We call it the 'Yao Ming effect' since he has worked as a stimulus for China's booming sports industry."

China Central Television Channel 5, a national sports channel, says its ratings for the first game of the series were triple its average ratings for Sunday morning broadcasts.

In Shanghai, the game attracted four times as many viewers as in usual time.

Yao and his Houston Rockets lost the first game to the LA Lakers 72-71 on a last second dunk by O'Neil.

The playoffs have been a much bigger draw locally than February's NBA all-star game, which attracted only 116,000 viewers in Shanghai.

"The start of the playoffs proves that the NBA can be even more attractive and capture the attention of an increasing number of viewers all over China, especially if Yao Ming's team is on the air," TNS's Managing Director Pierre Justo said in a statement yesterday.

Cai Huifang, a middle-aged Shanghai resident, said it was Yao who aroused her interest in basketball.

"Yao is a son of the city. He has won great fame for Chinese athletes," Cai said. "I love to watch his performance and try not to miss any game with Yao in it."

"The ratings show Shanghai people are really crazy about him," Zhang of TNS said. "It is valuable for business people as Yao provides a chance to present a healthy image."

They might not have more chances to watch Yao this season. His Rockets trail the Lakers 3-1 in a best of seven series. The next game is on Thursday morning local time. Yao will also play for Chinese national team at Athens Olympic Games this summer.

(eastday.com  April 28, 2004)