Even a buzzer-beating Laker win could not keep NBA ratings afloat opposite Sunday Night Football.
Airing directly opposite NBC’s Sunday Night Football, Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference Finals (Nuggets-Lakers) averaged a 1.75 rating and 3.17 million viewers on TNT — marking the league’s smallest conference final audience since Pistons-Nets Game 4 on ESPN in 2003 (2.72M). No other conference final game since at least 2001 has averaged fewer viewers.
The football competition (10.0, 17.69M) was the clear culprit in Sunday’s low. Game 1 on Friday averaged a healthier 2.6 and 4.92 million, ranking third for the playoffs behind Nuggets-Clippers Game 7 on ESPN last Tuesday (3.1, 5.23M) and Rockets-Lakers Game 2 on ABC over Labor Day weekend (2.9, 5.43M).
Both games declined considerably from last year, with Game 2 down 63% in ratings and 60% in viewership from Blazers-Warriors on a Thursday night in May last year (4.7, 7.88M). Friday’s drop was not as severe, but ratings still fell 42% and viewership a third from last year’s Tuesday night opener (4.5, 7.32M).
It bears noting that weak numbers for the NBA remain strong by most other standards. Game 1 was television’s most-watched Friday program since July 3, surpassing the previous high of 4.69 million set by Celtics-Raptors Game 7 a week earlier. It was also the top Friday show in adults 18-34 (1.7) and 18-49 (2.0) since the NFL Draft (on three networks) in April.
Game 2 was an exception to the rule, trailing not only SNF but also the NFL-boosted “60 Minutes” on CBS (9.66M) and Primetime Emmy Awards on ABC (6.36M), among others. While it is not unusual for NBA playoff games average fewer viewers than older-skewing broadcast TV fare, both “60 Minutes” (1.6) and the Emmys (1.3) did as well or better than the NBA’s 1.25 in adults 18-49.
As for the Eastern Conference Finals, Saturday’s Celtics-Heat Game 3 averaged a 2.0 and 3.81 million — down 46% in ratings and 38% in viewership from Bucks-Raptors on a Sunday night in May last year (3.7, 6.16M).
Despite the steep drop, Game 3 was Saturday’s most-watched television program and topped an unusually competitive night of sports — edging a competing Miami-Louisville college football game on ABC (3.80M) and cruising past both NASCAR on NBCSN (2.12M) and Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on NBC (2.11M). It also beat third round US Open coverage on NBC earlier in the day (3.04M).
