The numbers were not much to write home about, but ABC’s NBA Saturday Primetime returned from hiatus with a slightly larger audience.
Saturday’s Warriors/Clippers NBA regular season game drew a 2.2 final rating and 3.5 million viewers on ABC, up a tick in ratings and 5% in viewership from Spurs/Cavaliers three weeks earlier (2.1, 3.3M) but down 8% and 11%, respectively, from Bulls/Cavaliers four weeks ago (2.4, 3.9M).
The Warriors’ win, which peaked with 4.8 million viewers, ranks third among non-Christmas games this season. Warriors/Cavaliers in January (3.6M) and the aforementioned Bulls/Cavaliers game hold the top two spots. Including the Christmas Day slate, Saturday’s game ranks sixth.
Overall, the Warriors have played in four of the ten most-watched games this season — more than any other team except the Cavaliers, who have played in five.
Locally, the game scored a 10.4 rating in the Bay Area and a 3.8 in Los Angeles. In the former, it was the highest rated regular season game ever on ABC, excluding Christmas.
(Sat. numbers from ESPN Media Zone)
