The much-hyped broadcast team of Dick Vitale and Bill Walton did little to move the needle for Wednesday’s NBA action on ESPN. In other action, local ratings are up for both the usual and unusual suspects this season, and Premier Boxing Champions set a viewership high on the Bounce network last week.
Vitale and Walton Fail to Move Needle
- ESPN’s Pacers/Cavaliers NBA telecast, called by Bill Walton and Dick Vitale as part of the network’s “The Crossover” special, had a 0.9 final rating and 1.4 million viewers Wednesday — the second-least watched Cavaliers game on national TV this season (18 telecasts excluding NBA TV). Only Clippers/Cavaliers in December had a smaller audience (1.0M on TNT). The Knicks/Thunder nightcap did better with a 1.0 and 1.6 million. There were no comparable windows last year. In other action, TNT scored a 0.9 and 1.4 million for Celtics/Bulls Thursday — down 31% in ratings and 24% in viewership from Bulls/Cavaliers last year (1.3, 1.9M) and down 18% in both measures from Mavericks/Thunder in 2015 (1.1, 1.8M).
Warriors and Sixers Posting First-Half Growth
- Golden State Warriors NBA games have averaged an 8.64 rating on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area entering the All-Star break, 2% ahead of last year’s pace (8.44), when the team finished with its highest local rating ever. Wednesday’s first-half finale against the Kings had a season-high 11.19. Over on CSN Philadelphia, 76ers games have averaged a 1.9 so far this season, up 119% from last year and the network’s best figures since 2011-12.
PBC Gets Bounce TV Bounce
- Last Friday’s Premier Boxing Champions telecast on Bounce TV scored 501,000 viewers, the network’s largest audience yet for the third-year boxing series. Viewership increased 73% over its previous PBC card. To put the numbers in perspective, the most recent PBC telecast on Spike TV last month had 528,000.
(Numbers via Programming Insider 2.16, 2.17; Sports Business Daily 2.17, NBC Sports Group Press Box 2.16, Jay dela Cruz/Twitter 2.16 SB Nation 2.14)
