The Christmas night Spurs/Rockets game delivered the top NBA audience of the season on cable. In other news, NBCSN put up humdrum numbers for NHL coverage last week, and the Premier Boxing Champions series scored its second-best Fox Sports 1 audience.
Spurs/Rockets Christmas Game Hits Cable Season-High
- The Christmas Day Spurs/Rockets NBA regular season game had 3.9 million viewers on ESPN, down 4% from Lakers/Bulls on TNT last year (4.0M) but up 14% from Rockets/Spurs on ESPN in 2013 (3.4M). It earned the largest NBA audience on cable this season, topping Cavaliers/Bulls Opening Night (3.5M). In the nightcap, Clippers/Lakers drew 2.9 million — down 6% from Warriors/Clippers last year (3.1M) but up 6% from Clippers/Warriors in 2013 (2.7M). Pelicans/Heat scored 3.2 million in the afternoon, up 4% from Wizards/Knicks last year (3.0M) and up 14% from Bulls/Nets in 2013 (2.8M). (via Programming Insider)
Nondescript Week For NHL on NBCSN
- Wednesday’s Lightning/Rangers and Flyers/Sharks NHL regular season games scored 394,000 and 210,000 viewers, respectively, on NBCSN. There were no comparable windows last year or in 2013. Predators/Blues scored 224,000 on Tuesday night; again there were no comparable windows in previous seasons. (via ShowBuzz Daily [1], [2])
FS1 Tops 200K Again For Premier Boxing Champions
- Coverage of the Premier Boxing Champions series on Fox Sports 1 drew 227,000 viewers Tuesday night, the network’s second-largest PBC audience (nine telecasts). The network’s previous telecast three weeks earlier holds the top spot, with 261,000. No other PBC event on FS1 has cracked the 200,000 mark. (via ShowBuzz Daily)
