While the Warriors and Kobe Bryant took center stage, other NBA games scored increases in the final week of the season. In other news, the Men’s Frozen Four final fell to a three-year low, and early week baseball viewership was mixed on ESPN and ESPN2.
Big Gains For Other NBA Games This Week
- Wednesday’s Heat/Celtics NBA regular season game had a 1.2 final rating and 1.8 million viewers on ESPN, up 140% in ratings and 150% in viewership from Hornets/Raptors last year (0.5, 717K) and up 44% in the latter from Mavericks/Grizzlies in 2014 (1.2M). The game was the undercard on a night when the Warriors set an NBA wins record and Kobe Bryant entered retirement. On Tuesday, TNT ended its season with 1.7 million for Thunder/Spurs and 1.4 million for Grizzlies/Clippers, up 33% and 27%, respectively, from last year’s doubleheader of Wizards/Pacers (1.3M) and Clippers/Suns (1.1M).
Frozen Four Final Hits Three-Year Low on ESPN2
- ESPN2 scored 541,000 viewers for the North Dakota/Quinnipiac NCAA Frozen Four final Saturday night, down 15% from Providence/Boston University last year (635K) and down 25% from Union/Minnesota in 2014 (717K), both of which aired on ESPN. It was the least-watched title game in three years, since Yale/Quinnipiac in 2013 (539K). The last time the game aired on ESPN2, 2012, Boston College/Ferris State had 498,000.
Monday, Wednesday Baseball Mixed on ESPN
- Marlins/Mets earned 651,000 viewers on the latest edition of ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball, down 28% from Yankees/Orioles last year (899K) and down 31% from Rangers/Red Sox in 2014 (948K). On Wednesday, Orioles/Red Sox scored 520,000 on ESPN2 — up 24% from Mariners/Dodgers in a later timeslot last year (419K) and up 62% from Astros/Blue Jays in ’14 (321K).
(Numbers via Programming Insider, ShowBuzz Daily [1], [2], [3], [4])
