With the NFL Draft taking up most of the attention over the weekend, ESPN suffered declines for all three of its NBA playoff games.
Game 3 of the Thunder/Clippers second round NBA playoff series drew 4.9 million viewers on ESPN Friday night, down 10% from Spurs/Warriors last year (5.4M), and down a third from Thunder/Lakers in 2012 (7.4M). The game was the least-viewed of the series through three games, falling below Game 1 (5.4M) and Game 2 (6.2M).
Despite the decline, Thunder/Clippers was the top NBA playoff game of the weekend on cable.
Earlier Friday night, Pacers/Wizards Game 3 drew 3.2 million viewers — down 51% from Heat/Bulls last year (6.6M) and down 32% from Celtics/Sixers Game 4 in 2012 (4.8M). Pacers/Wizards was the only game to air directly opposite NFL Draft coverage, losing the viewership battle by 24% (3.2M to 3.9M).
Saturday’s Spurs/Blazers Game 3 brought up the rear with 3.2 million viewers, down 7% from Thunder/Grizzlies last year (3.4M) and down 51% from Thunder/Lakers Game 4 on TNT in 2012 (6.4M).
(Fri./Sat. numbers from Media Life Magazine)
