Saturday night was alright for the NBA on ABC; Wednesday nights not so much.
The eight-game NBA Saturday Primetime schedule on ABC averaged a 1.7 rating and 3.13 million viewers, marking the most-watched season of the Saturday night package since 2018-19. That average includes the NBA In-Season Tournament Final in December; ABC carried a Warriors-Celtics NBA Finals rematch in that window last season.
ABC finished its Saturday slate over the weekend with a 1.6 and 2.97 million for Warriors-Lakers opposite college basketball conference tournament games, up a tick in ratings and 12% in viewership from its Bucks-Warriors finale opposite the same competition last year (1.5, 2.65M).
Ratings and viewership placed well below the 2.2 and 3.97 million the same matchup averaged in January, sans any notable competition. The Warriors’ win, which was marred lengthy reviews and clock malfunctions in the final minutes, marked the least-watched ABC game between Stephen Curry and LeBron James.
ABC’s full 24-game schedule — the most NBA games on broadcast television since the days of NBC — averaged a 1.4 and 2.60 million, including cable simulcasts for the In-Season Tournament Final and Christmas Day games. That average also includes five non-exclusive Wednesday night games in January that were added during the season due to the Hollywood writers and actors strikes. Excluding those games, which averaged a mere 1.0 and 1.65 million, the network averaged a 1.5 and 2.83 million for 19 games.
Compared to last year’s average of 3.06 million — a 20-game slate that included all five Christmas Day games, compared to two this year — the 24-game average is down 15% and the 19-game average is down 8%. The 24-game average is the lowest yet for an NBA season on broadcast television, while the 19-game average ranks ahead of the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign (2.74M).
ABC wrapped up its regular season on Sunday with a 1.3 and 2.15 million for Nuggets-Mavericks, preceded by Suns-Bucks at a 1.0 and 1.51 million. The latter tops only one of the non-exclusive Wednesday night games — Suns-Nets — as the network’s least-watched of the season.
