Though down double-digits from last year’s Celtics/Lakers game, ABC earned strong numbers for Sunday’s clash between the Heat and the Bulls.
Sunday’s Bulls/Heat NBA regular season game earned a 4.1 overnight rating on ABC, down 18% from last year’s comparable game (BOS/LAL: 5.0), and down 7% from the comparable game in 2010 (LAL/BOS: 4.4).
Last season’s Bulls/Heat game on ABC, which aired at 1 PM ET on March 6, earned a 3.6 overnight rating.
Excluding Christmas Day games, the 4.1 overnight for Bulls/Heat is tied as the sixth-highest for an NBA game on ABC since the network acquired rights to the league ten years ago. Five of the ten highest non-Christmas overnights have taken place in the past two seasons alone.
In addition, the 4.1 is the highest non-Christmas overnight for any NBA regular season game on ABC that did not involve the Lakers.
Highest Regular Season Overnight Ratings for the NBA on ABC
Excluding Christmas Day games
(This year’s numbers from ESPN)
