A potential NBA Finals preview delivered a big increase for ESPN Wednesday night. Plus: a quiet week for the NHL on ABC and TNT; and figures for the WCC Tournament, Unrivaled and PGA Tour.
Big jump for Thunder-Celtics potential Finals preview
Wednesday’s Thunder-Celtics NBA regular season game averaged a 1.0 rating and 1.7 million viewers on ESPN, up 58% in ratings and 57% in viewership from a Nuggets-Heat NBA Finals rematch last year (0.6, 1.09M).
Oklahoma City’s win, which peaked with 2.23 million viewers, ranks fifth among Thunder games this season — behind the NBA Cup Final on ABC (Bucks-Thunder: 2.99M), NBA Cup semifinal on ABC (Thunder-Rockets: 1.89M), January matchup against Cleveland on ESPN (1.87M) and Sunday’s game against Denver on ABC (1.87M).
Later in the night, Nuggets-Timberwolves averaged 1.4 million — on par with Lakers-Kings a year ago. NBA viewership on ESPN/ABC this season remains even with last year.
On Thursday, TNT and truTV combined to average 1.42 million for Kings-Warriors — up 36% from last year (Mavericks-Thunder: 1.04M) — while Lakers-Bucks led in with a 0.7 (flat) and 1.25 million (+17%). The networks combined to average a combined 0.50 and 960,000 for Bucks-Pacers on Tuesday night, down a tick and 10% respectively from Sixers-Knicks last year (0.6, 1.07M).
Quiet week for NHL on ABC, TNT
ABC averaged 777,000 for Bruins-Lightning and 580,000 for Kraken-Flyers in an NHL regular season doubleheader last Saturday, down a third and nine percent respectively from last year’s equivalent games (Penguins-Bruins: 1.16M; Hurricanes-Devils: 637K). Kraken-Flyers in particular was the least-watched game on ABC this season, save for a Sunday Rangers-Blackhawks matinee opposite NFL coverage (454K).
Keep in mind three of the four teams in the ABC doubleheader are currently out of the playoff field.
ABC’s Saturday hockey package is still trending up from last year, with its average of 966,000 up 15%. (Last year’s average excludes an outdoor game.)
In other NHL action, TNT and truTV combined 306,000 for a Sunday doubleheader of Devils-Flyers (263K, -26%) and Penguins-Wild (350K, -3%), down 14% from last year’s equivalent games (Oilers-Penguins and Predators-Wild). The networks also averaged a combined 218,000 for a Wednesday doubleheader of Sabres-Red Wings (290K, +18%) and Anaheim-Utah (139K, -35%), down 5% from last year’s pairing of Kings-Blues and Capitals-Oilers.
Plus: WCC Tournament, Unrivaled, PGA Tour
— Tuesday’s Gonzaga-St. Mary’s WCC Tournament final averaged a 0.51 rating and 911,000 viewers on ESPN, down a tick in ratings and 21% in viewership from last year’s three-year high (0.6, 1.14M).
— The regular season of the new women’s basketball league Unrivaled averaged 215,000 viewers across TNT and truTV simulcasts, not including truTV-exclusive windows that averaged 120,000. The league produced the ten largest women’s basketball audiences ever on TNT Sports, with the caveat that the division has previously carried only a handful of women’s college games and none from the WNBA.
— Final round coverage of the PGA Tour Arnold Palmer Invitational averaged 2.81 million viewers on NBC last Sunday, up 22% from last year’s seven-year low (2.29M). Viewership has increased for five of seven final rounds on broadcast television this season, including four by double-digits. Third round action averaged 1.74 million, even with a year ago.
