As one would expect given the grousing, the competition and the general trend for All-Star games, both the NBA All-Star Game and Saturday night festivities fell double-digits from a year ago.
Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game averaged a combined 2.2 rating and 4.72 million viewers across TNT, TBS and truTV, down 18% in ratings and 13% in viewership from last year (2.6, 5.40M) but flat and up 3% respectively compared to the all-time lows set in 2023 (2.2, 4.59M). (Given the increase in Nielsen out-of-home viewing this month, it is likely this year’s audience would have trailed the 2023 low all things being equal.)
The annual exhibition, which peaked with 4.99 million in the 9:30 PM ET quarter-hour, delivered the fourth-largest audience of the NBA season — behind three Christmas Day games on the ESPN networks (Lakers-Warriors: 7.91M; Sixers-Celtics: 5.24M; Spurs-Knicks: 5.00M).
This year’s All-Star Game faced greater competition than usual, airing opposite NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” 50th anniversary special and the conclusion of the rain-delayed Daytona 500. (The All-Star Game also took a hit from the “SNL” 40th anniversary special ten years ago.)
Despite the tough competition, the game still won the night on all of television among adults under 35 — an indication of the NBA’s younger-skewing audience — and men under 50. The All-Star Game also matched this year’s record-low NFL Pro Bowl, though that came before Nielsen expanded its out-of-home sample. (The king of the All-Star genre remains the MLB All-Star Game, which at 7.44 million viewers last year posted a rare increase.)
Beyond the competition factor, the game’s much-maligned new format resulted in significant downtime between games, and even during them — as there was an extended break during the final contest to honor TNT’s NBA studio team. It was also the first All-Star Game sans-LeBron James since his rookie season in 2004.
All-Star Saturday Night did not hold up as well as the game itself, averaging 3.39 million on TNT and truTV — down 26% from last year (4.57M) and the smallest audience for the event in at least a quarter-century. The previous low was 3.42 million in 2023. Viewership trailed the competing United States-Canada NHL Four Nations Face-Off game on ABC, which averaged 4.4 million.
The declines for the All-Star events far outpaced the regular season trend on national TV. After a widely-publicized double-digit decline to start the season, viewership on ABC, ESPN and TNT (1.55M) is down five percent entering the second half of the season.
This year marked the final NBA All-Star Weekend on TNT. The All-Star Game returns to NBC for the first time since 2002 next season, with All-Star Saturday Night set to air on the network for the first time. Simply returning to broadcast television (to say nothing of a possible Olympic lead-in) should result in viewership rebounding next year, as TNT is in half as many homes (63M) as NBC (126M).
The NBA was the last of the major All-Star games — even including the WNBA — exclusively on cable.
