TNT earned one of the largest cable television audiences of the NBA season with Lakers/Thunder Tuesday night. In other news, NBC Sports Netwok scored strong numbers for the Blackhawks’ continued streak, and the latest NASCAR Nationwide Series race had a decline on ESPN<.
Lakers/Thunder Earns NBA’s Sixth-Best Cable Audience This Season
- Tuesday’s Lakers/Thunder NBA regular season game earned 3.3 million viewers on TNT, the sixth-largest NBA audience of the season on cable. Earlier in the night, Celtics/Sixers earned just 1.4 million. There were no comparable games last year. Only Celtics/Heat (5.4M) and Mavericks/Lakers (4.3M) on Opening Night, Celtics/Nets on Christmas Day (3.7M), Heat/Lakers in January (3.5M) and Heat/Thunder in February (3.4M) earned better numbers. (Tue. numbers from The Futon Critic)
Blackhawks’ Streak Attracts Top-Ten Audience on NBCSN
- NBC Sports Network earned 720,000 viewers for the Avalanche/Blackhawks NHL game Wednesday night, the network’s ninth-most viewed regular season game since acquiring NHL rights in the 2004-05 season. Locally, the game earned a 7.0 rating in Chicago — a record for regular season coverage on NBCSN. (NBC Sports Group Press Box)
Declines For NASCAR Nationwide Series
- Last Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Dollar General 250 from Phoenix earned a 1.4 U.S. rating and 2.5 million viewers on ESPN2, down a tick in ratings but up 3% in viewership compared to the same race last year (1.5, 2.4M). The decline was the second-straight for the Nationwide Series to open the 2013 season; the season-opening Daytona race declined by 24% in both ratings and viewership. (ESPN)
