The final game of the NBA regular season attracted strong numbers on ESPN Wednesday night. In other news, TNT did poorly for a mediocre doubleheader on Tuesday, and a large local audience watched the first sporting event in Boston since Monday’s tragedy.
Rockets/Lakers Up Big on Final Day of Season
- Wednesday’s Rockets/Lakers NBA regular season game drew 2.5 million viewers on ESPN, up 48% from Lakers/Warriors on the comparable date last year (1.7M), and up 108% from Grizzlies/Clippers in 2011 (1.2M). Earlier in the night, Jazz/Grizzlies drew 1.6 million — down 6% from Magic/Celtics last year (1.7M), but up 21% from Hornets/Mavericks in 2011 (1.3M). Last year’s regular season ended one week later due to the owners’ lockout, with TNT drawing significantly smaller audiences for a Knicks/Bobcats (961K) and Spurs/Warriors (869K) doubleheader. (Wed. numbers from The Futon Critic)
Few Viewers For NBA on TNT Tuesday
- TNT drew just 774,000 viewers for the Raptors/Hawks NBA game on Tuesday night, down a whopping 72% from both Celtics/Knicks last year (2.7M) and Bulls/Knicks in 2011 (2.7M). Raptors/Hawks was added to TNT to replace the canceled Pacers/Celtics game. Later in the night, Trail Blazers/Clippers drew 872,000 viewers — down 63% from Spurs/Lakers last year (2.3M), and down 67% from Spurs/Lakers in 2011 (2.6M). (Tue. numbers from The Futon Critic)
Bruins’ Return to the Ice Attracts Large Local Audience
- As should be expected given the circumstances, Wednesday’s Sabres/Bruins NHL regular season game drew a large television audience in Boston. The game — the first sporting event in Boston since Monday’s attack at the Boston Marathon — drew a 7.9 local rating on NBC Sports Network, the market’s third-highest ever for a regular season game on the network. A national audience of 847,000 viewers watched the game, the fourth-largest for a regular season game on NBCSN. (NBC Sports Group)
