The door’s closed, the light’s out, the eggs are cooling, the butter’s getting hard and the jello’s jiggling, but the Lakers remain a ratings draw.
Celtics-Lakers scored a 1.9 rating and 3.07 million viewers on ABC’s NBA Saturday Primetime last weekend, up 36% in ratings and 40% in viewership from last year (Spurs-Thunder: 1.4, 2.19M) and up 27% and 25% respectively from 2017 (Warriors-Spurs: 1.5, 2.45M). Those games aired opposite the ACC Tournament final.
Ratings and viewership have now increased double-digits for eight of the last nine Laker games on ESPN/ABC or TNT, and 10 of the past 13. Overall, 11 of the team’s last 14 national games have posted increases. The Lakers, who fell to 30-36 after Sunday’s game, are not in playoff contention.
Saturday’s game was easily the most-watched NBA telecast of the past week.
On Sunday, Pacers-Sixers had a 1.3 and 1.88 million on ABC — down 13% in ratings and 15% in viewership from last year (Warriors-T’Wolves: 1.5, 2.22M), but up 18% and 11% respectively from 2017 (Bulls-Celtics: 1.1, 1.69M).
Shifting to cable, ESPN drew a 1.3 and 2.00 million for Nuggets-Warriors and a 1.0 and 1.53 million for Sixers-Rockets on Friday night. TNT drew a 0.6 and 914,000 for Spurs-Mavericks and a 0.6 and 834,000 for T’Wolves-Nuggets on Tuesday night. There were no comparable windows last year, as both ESPN and Turner were occupied with college basketball coverage.
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 3.13]
