ABC hit multiple lows for last weekend’s Cavaliers/Clippers rout.
Last Sunday’s Cavaliers/Clippers NBA regular season game scored a 1.6 final rating and 2.5 million viewers on ABC, down 11% in ratings and 6% in viewership from Rockets/Clippers last year (1.8, 2.7M) and down 24% and 22%, respectively, from Rockets/Heat in 2014 (2.1, 3.3M).
The 1.6 rating is tied as the lowest for the NBA on Selection Sunday since Magic/Suns in 2011, matching Bulls/Thunder in an early window last year. In addition, the 1.6 is tied as the lowest ever for a game involving LeBron James on ABC*, matching a 2009 Mavericks/Cavaliers game that aired opposite the NCAA Tournament.
Ratings and viewership were also the lowest for ABC’s late Sunday afternoon window in five years, since Magic/Suns in 2011 (1.4, 2.1M).
In the past two seasons, fully half of ABC’s 28 regular season games have had less than a 2.0 rating, compared to eight games in the previous four seasons (60 telecasts).
* A 2010 Magic/Cavaliers game had a 1.4 rating on ABC, but James sat out due to rest.
(Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily)
