The NBA’s two highest-profile teams did not move the needle all that much over the weekend.
Clippers/Warriors earned a 2.0 final rating and 3.3 million viewers on the latest edition of ABC’s NBA Saturday Primetime, down a tick in ratings and 2% in viewership from Spurs/Cavaliers last year (2.1, 3.3M). Compared to last year’s Saturday Primetime game between the rivals, which took place in February, ratings fell 9% from a 2.2 and viewership 6% from 3.5 million.
The Warriors’ 46-point rout was the team’s least-watched game on ABC in nearly two years, since another matchup with the Clippers in March 2015 (2.8M).
On Sunday, Thunder/Cavaliers scored a 2.0 and 3.2 million — up a tick in ratings and 10% in viewership from Bulls/Clippers last year (1.9, 2.9M) but down 29% and 24% respectively from the same Thunder/Cavaliers matchup in 2015 (2.8, 4.2M).
Neither game had as large an audience as the Kentucky/Kansas college basketball matchup on ESPN Saturday evening, which had 3.3 million viewers.
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 1.31)
