The NBA ratings roll continues, with viewership now back up double-digits from last year.
NBA regular season games have averaged 1.95 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and TNT through Wednesday, up 10% from last year (1.77M) and up 1% from two years ago (1.93M).
Ratings and viewership increased double-digits for five of six games this week. On Wednesday, Raptors-Cavaliers scored a 1.2 rating and 1.9 million viewers on ESPN — up 76% in ratings and 80% in viewership from last year (Hawks-Wizards: 0.7, 1.0M) and up 26% and 30% respectively from 2016 (Knicks-Bulls: 0.95, 1.4M).
It was the second-largest audience for a regular season Raptors game in at least a decade. A November 2016 matchup against Golden State had 2.0 million.
The Wizards-Spurs nightcap had a 1.0 (+67%) and 1.5 million (+71%).
On Tuesday, TNT drew a 1.0 (+43%) and 1.5 million (+37%) for Thunder-Celtics and a 1.05 (+31%) and 1.6 million (+30%) for Rockets-Blazers.
Finally, Warriors-Spurs scored a 1.2 (+50%) and 1.9 million (+48%) on ESPN Monday night. The week’s only dud was Bucks-Cavaliers earlier Monday, which declined 38% in ratings (1.6 to 1.0) and 40% in viewership (2.6M to 1.5M). That comes with a major caveat; last year’s game was Warriors-Thunder.
Overall, NBA ratings have increased in nine of ten games since Selection Sunday, all by double-digits. Keep in mind March Madness is usually the weakest point of the NBA season.
