Despite a .500 record, the Cleveland Cavaliers have continued to boost NBA viewership.
Of the 11 Cavaliers games on TNT, ESPN or ABC this season, ten have had a year-over-year increase in viewership. The lone exception was the November 7 game against the Nuggets, which could not be compared to last year. Only 12 of 46 non-Cavaliers games have had increases.
Thursday’s Cavaliers/Lakers game was the latest to see an improvement, with viewership rising 6% over Thunder/Rockets last year (from 1.9M to 2.0M). The previous week, games against the Rockets (1.4M, +18%) and Warriors (1.8M, +16%) had year-over-year increases despite the absence of LeBron James.
With that said, there is some evidence of diminishing interest in the struggling Cavaliers. The team’s last four games on national TV have increased by less than 20%, with Thursday’s 6% increase the lowest of the season. By comparison, five of the previous six year-over-year increases were by more than a third, including an 85% jump for the December 11 game against the Thunder.
Furthermore, viewership has been relatively soft as of late. Last week’s games against the Rockets and Warriors were the least-watched Cavaliers games on national TV this season, and Thursday’s 2.0 million viewers was especially low for a matchup pitting LeBron James against Kobe Bryant. Compared to Heat/Lakers on the comparable night two years ago, viewership plunged 43% from 3.5 million.
Even if diminished, the Cavaliers remain easily the most reliable draw of the NBA season. Since the start of the new year, four of the seven non-Cavaliers games on national TV have had declines in viewership — with Rockets/Knicks on January 8 (-55%) and Bulls/Wizards the following day (-40%) both down considerably from Heat games last year.
In a bright spot for the league, the last three non-Cavaliers games have increased over last year — Wizards/Bulls (1.4M, +35%) and Clippers/Blazers (1.4M, +21%) on ESPN Wednesday and Thunder/Rockets (1.7M, +6%) on TNT Thursday. That will need to become the trend if the Cavaliers continue to falter.
