Overnights held up well for a thriller between the last two NBA champions, but the NBA’s Christmas marathon struggled overall thanks to the NFL.
Warriors/Cavaliers, the centerpiece of the NBA’s annual Christmas Day quintupleheader, scored a 5.9 overnight rating on ABC Sunday — up 44% from Bulls/Thunder last year (4.1) and up 48% from Thunder/Spurs in 2014 (4.0). Compared to last year’s Cavaliers/Warriors Christmas Day game, which aired in the late afternoon window, overnights fell 12% from a 6.7.
The 5.9 overnight is tied as the highest for the mid-afternoon Christmas window since Heat/Lakers in 2004, matching Knicks/Lakers in 2012.
The Cavaliers’ last-second win, which peaked at a 6.8 from 5-5:15 PM ET, aired in the early afternoon window to avoid competition from the Ravens/Steelers NFL game on NFL Network. Exact figures for the NFL game were not available, but Warriors/Cavaliers won the head-to-head battle during the 45 minutes the telecasts overlapped.
Airing directly opposite the NFL game, Bulls/Spurs had a mere 3.4 overnight — down 49% from last year’s Cavaliers/Warriors game and down 38% from Cavaliers/Heat in 2014 (5.5). Compared to last year’s undercard, overnights fell 17% from the aforementioned 4.1 for Bulls/Thunder. The 3.4 is the lowest for a Christmas Day game on ABC in any window since at least 2007.
Celtics/Knicks was the day’s top draw on cable with a 2.4 overnight in the Noon ET window, up a tick from Pelicans/Heat last year (2.3) and up 14% from Wizards/Knicks in 2014 (2.1). The 2.4 is the highest for the Noon ET Christmas window since Celtics/Nets in 2012 (2.7).
In primetime, Timberwolves/Thunder had a 1.0 and Clippers/Lakers a 1.1 — down 60% and 50% respectively from last year’s comparable doubleheader of Spurs/Rockets (2.5) and Clippers/Lakers (2.2). Competition from NBC’s Sunday Night Football clearly took a toll, with Broncos/Chiefs earning an 11.5.
(Wknd. numbers from ESPN)
