For the first time in five years, ABC earned less than a 2.0 rating for both games of an NBA doubleheader.
Last Sunday’s Bulls/Spurs NBA regular season game drew a 1.5 and 2.3 million viewers on ABC, down 32% in ratings and 33% in viewership from Heat/Bulls last year (2.2, 3.4M), down 25% and 22%, respectively, from Celtics/Thunder in 2013 (2.0, 2.9M), and the network’s lowest rated, least-watched NBA telecast in nearly four years — since Suns/Spurs in April 2011 (1.3, 2.0M).
The Bulls have played in four of the eight lowest rated telecasts on ABC over that span, with three of those four coming this season alone.
Clippers/Warriors drew a 1.8 rating and 2.8 million later in the day, down 18% in ratings and 16% in viewership from Thunder/Lakers last year (2.2, 3.4M) and down 33% and 30%, respectively, from Bulls/Lakers in 2013 (2.7, 4.1M). The 1.8 rating is tied as the lowest for a late afternoon NBA game on ABC since Magic/Suns in March 2011 (1.4) and viewership was the lowest for the window since Knicks/Clippers in March 2013 (2.6M).
The Clippers have also played in four of the eight lowest rated telecasts on ABC since 2011, with three of the four coming this season. This Sunday will be the third straight in which both the Bulls and Clippers have appeared on ABC’s NBA Sunday Showcase.
Over the past two seasons, eight NBA games on ABC have failed to earn at least a 2.0 rating — each involving the Clippers and/or Bulls. Only one game dipped below that mark over the previous two seasons, the previously mentioned Knicks/Clippers game in March 2013.
Sunday marked the first time since April 2010, and only the second time in the past decade, that both games of an NBA doubleheader on ABC failed to earn a 2.0 rating.
(Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily)
