NBA Christmas ratings were up and down, but all in all, it was a happy holiday for the league.
Monday’s NBA Christmas Day quintupleheader averaged a 2.6 rating and 5.1 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and TNT, up 13% in ratings and 12% in viewership from last year (2.3, 4.6M) but down 13% and 9% respectively from 2015, when the games did not face NFL competition (3.0, 5.6M).
Cavaliers-Warriors led the way with a 4.5 rating and 8.8 million on ABC, down 8% in ratings and 13% in viewership from the same matchup last year (4.9, 10.1M) but up 41% and 51% respectively from 2015 (Bulls-Thunder: 3.2, 5.9M). Compared to Cavaliers-Warriors in 2015, which aired in a later timeslot and did not face NFL competition, ratings and viewership fell 21% from a 5.7 and 11.2 million.
Golden State’s win delivered the tenth-largest NBA Christmas audience since at least 2000 (66 games). LeBron James has now played in seven of the top ten Christmas games over that span, but this year’s matchup was the least-watched involving the Cavaliers star since 2013 — when his Heat faced a Kobe Bryant-less Lakers squad (7.8M).
Later in the day, Wizards-Celtics drew a 3.1 (+11%) and 6.2 million (+14%). It was the most-watched regular season game that did not involve LeBron or Golden State since January 2013 (Thunder-Lakers: 6.3M).
Rounding out ABC’s tripleheader, Rockets-Thunder drew a 2.6 and 5.0 million in primetime — up 225% in ratings and 259% in viewership from Timberwolves-Thunder last year (0.8, 1.4M) and up 30% and 28% respectively from Spurs-Rockets in 2015 (2.0, 3.9M). Both of those games aired on ESPN.
The 2.6 rating marks an unusually steep 37% decline from the 4.1 overnight. By comparison, Cavaliers-Warriors fell 18% and Wizards-Celtics 16%. ESPN’s Monday Night Football bumped Rockets-Thunder from ABC affiliates in Philadelphia and the Bay Area, which may have skewed the metered market results.
Though the final results were not as impressive, Oklahoma City’s win was still the NBA’s top primetime game on Christmas since 2003 (the last time ABC aired a primetime game).
Shifting to cable, Sixers-Knicks scored a 1.9 rating and 3.4 million viewers on ESPN — down a tick in ratings and 9% in viewership from Celtics-Knicks last year (2.0, 3.7M). ESPN Nielsen ratings now include streaming viewership on TV devices; comparisons are to last year’s TV+streaming numbers.
TNT’s Timberwolves-Lakers nightcap, broadcast by the network’s Inside the NBA studio team, brought up the rear with a 0.8 rating (-12%) and 1.5 million viewers (-4%). The 0.8 is tied as the lowest on record for a Christmas NBA game, matching T’Wolves-Thunder last year.
[Mon. numbers from ESPN, ShowBuzz Daily 12.27]
