One imagines Duke/Virginia was not nearly the draw for ESPN that Pistons/Celtics Round III could have been.
Thanks to college basketball, the Worldwide Leader in Sports was forced to pass on the third battle between the two best teams in the NBA. Without the national broadcast to compete with, Comcast SportsNet New England was the only outlet on which fans could watch the game in Boston — a circumstance that helped lead to the best rating for a regular season Celtics game in ten years.
Comcast SportsNet New England drew a 5.7 rating for the Celtics’ 90-78 win over Detroit, equaling 131,000 households. The 5.7 is the best rating ever for a Celtics game on the network, surpassing the previous record of 5.4 set in November.
So far this season, ratings for Celtics games are up 107%, to a 3.5 rating.
Nationally, ratings for NBA games have been on the rise this season. Viewership for games on ABC, ESPN and TNT is up 11%, 12% and 5%, respectively, with much larger increases in key demographics.
In other NBA television news, the New Orleans Hornets will get their first network television appearance since leaving Charlotte when they play the Detroit Pistons on ABC March 16. Look for the Hornets’ April 6 home game against the Golden State Warriors to make ABC as well.
