With only one more broadcast left before the NBA Finals (Game 3 of Spurs/Jazz on Saturday night), ABC is averaging a 2.9 rating for nine NBA Playoff games, down 19% from a 3.6 rating through nine playoff games last year.
The 2.9 is on pace for a record low for the NBA Playoffs on broadcast television. To put the rating in perspective, NBC averaged a 2.9 rating for regular season games during its final season in 2002 — and that 2.9 rating was a record low for regular season games to that point.
On Sunday, May 20, Utah/San Antonio Game 1 set an record low for the Conference Finals on broadcast television. The game drew a 3.0/7, down 51% percent from the 6.1/14 Cavaliers/Pistons Game 7 drew on the comparable date last year. The game was also down 27% from the 4.1/10 Game 1 of the 2005 Western Conference Finals drew in the same timeslot, and down 14% from the 3.5 national rating that Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals drew on cable (TNT) last year.
Only one Western Conference Final game has drawn a lower rating since 2000 — Game 3 of the Suns/Spurs Conference Final in 2005, which aired on a Saturday night on ESPN.
During this postseason, five games in the marquee timeslot (3:30 PM Sundays) are averaging a 3.1 rating, down 26% from the 4.2 five games in that timeslot drew last season, and down 6% from the 3.3 rating five games drew in that timeslot in 2005.
