For the first time ever, an NBA game on broadcast television attracted fewer than 1% of U.S. TV homes.
Thunder-Rockets delivered a 0.9 final rating and 1.5 million viewers on ABC’s NBA Sunday Showcase over the weekend, down a tick in ratings but up 11% in viewership from Rockets-Wizards in an earlier timeslot two years ago (1.0, 1.3M). There was no comparable game last year.
The 0.9 rating is the lowest ever for the NBA on broadcast television, falling below the previous mark of 1.0 for Cavaliers-Clippers the previous week, Rockets-Wizards in ’15, and Suns-Kings in 2007.
Four of the eight lowest rated NBA games on broadcast television have taken place in the past month. The games have involved some of the league’s elite teams — the Rockets and MVP frontrunner James Harden Sunday, the defending champion Cavaliers the week before (albeit without LeBron James or Kyrie Irving) and the East-leading Celtics the week before that.
March has always been a rough month for the NBA with college basketball taking center stage. The 11 lowest rated NBA games on broadcast have all aired on the month of March, with seven of those facing the NCAA Tournament.
Despite the ratings low, Sunday’s game is no worse than the fourth-least watched NBA game ever on broadcast, topping Suns-Kings in ’07 (1.3M), Rockets-Wizards in ’15, and Mavericks-Magic in 2004 (1.4M). Viewership was not available for several ABC games in the 2000s, so it could rank higher.
The NBA now joins Major League Baseball and the NHL in the sub-1.0 club. MLB on FOX has fallen below the 1.0 mark on four separate occasions, bottoming out at a 0.7 for a special primetime showing of Alex Rodriguez‘ final game last August. The NHL on NBC is no stranger to the sub-1.0 mark, with every single indoor telecast this season failing to crack TV sports’ Mendoza line.
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 3.28)
