With the Daytona 500 providing formidable competition, the NBA on ABC hit a season-low in final ratings last Sunday.
Last Sunday’s Lakers/Mavericks NBA regular season game earned a 2.0 final rating and 2.9 million viewers on ABC — down 17% in ratings and 20% in viewership from Lakers/Thunder in a later timeslot in 2011 (2.4, 3.7M), and the network’s lowest rated and least-viewed game of the season. There was no comparable game last year due to the NBA All-Star Weekend.
Contributing to the lower numbers was competition from the Daytona 500 on FOX (9.9, 16.7M). This year marked the first time since 2003 that ABC aired NBA coverage opposite the Daytona 500.
Sunday’s game ranks as the lowest rated Laker game on ABC since Trail Blazers/Lakers in April 2010 (1.7). Keep in mind the game was also the earliest Laker game on ABC since March 2006.
Of note, Lakers/Mavericks had the lowest median age (45) of any sporting event on broadcast last weekend. CBS’ four college basketball games had a median age of between 53 and 55, the Daytona 500 had a median age of 53, and NBC’s golf telecasts had a median age north of 60.
