A likely NBA Finals preview did well for ABC, but not as well as last year.
Warriors-Celtics scored a 2.6 rating and 4.29 million viewers on ABC’s NBA Saturday Primetime last weekend, down 7% in ratings and 8% in viewership from the same matchup last year (2.8, 4.68M), but up 30% and 32% respectively from 2017 (Clippers-Warriors: 2.0, 3.26M).
The Warriors’ narrow win ranks as the highest rated and most-watched game of the NBA season, excluding Christmas Day. Five of the top six games have aired on ABC.
It also ranks as the sixth-most watched of the 27 total NBA Saturday Primetime games (dates back to 2016).
For the night, Warriors-Celtics was the top sporting event on any network, cruising past its competition — Premier Boxing Champions on FOX (1.3, 1.98M) and the NHL All-Star Game on NBC (1.1, 1.78M). It also topped the Kansas-Kentucky college basketball game on ESPN, which aired in an earlier window (1.7, 2.78M).
Even with the healthy numbers, Saturday’s game continued a downward trend for the NBA. Dating back to January 19, ten of the past 14 windows on ESPN, ABC or TNT have declined. Of the 86 total windows this season that can be compared to last year, 53 have posted a decline in ratings and/or viewership (62%).
In other NBA action, Bucks-Thunder scored a 1.1 and 1.79 million on ESPN Sunday night — down 15% in ratings and 14% in viewership from Sixers-Thunder last year (1.3, 2.08M).
On TNT Tuesday, Pelicans-Rockets had 1.11 million (-21%), while Sixers-Lakers bucked the downward trend with 1.56 million (+56%).
