Quick picks, 'fly cam' add pep to NBA draft

0 Comments | USA TODAY, June, 2006 | by Michael Hiestand

Tonight's NBA draft, the first to be covered with a remote-controlled "fly cam" buzzing overhead, is good TV.

At least as drafts go. ESPN's NBA draft drew 2.1% of cable TV households last year, while the first 5.5 hours of ESPN's NFL draft this year drew 5.2%. But the NBA's show is better, if only because picks come every five minutes -- as opposed to the NFL's 15-minute gaps -- and NBA draftees usually offer more provocative fashion statements.

"The time infrastructure is the biggest difference between the drafts," says coordinating producer Dan Steir. "This is harder because you have to make instantaneous decisions." But easier, in a way. The NBA's own NBA TV channel tries to complement, not compete with, ESPN's coverage -- not like the NFL's own NFL Network,...