ABC earned a predictably large audience for Sunday’s matchup between the Heat and the Lakers.
Sunday’s Heat/Lakers NBA regular season game drew a 4.3 final rating and 7.037 million viewers on ABC, up 34% in ratings and 37% in viewership from last year (LAL/SA: 3.2, 5.120M), and up 105% and 122%, respectively, from a 2010 game in an earlier timeslot (LAL/ORL: 2.1, 3.176M).
Excluding Christmas Day games, Heat/Lakers ranks as the most-viewed NBA regular season game on ABC since the network acquired rights to the league in 2002, topping the previous high of 7.003 million for Celtics/Lakers in January 2011. The last non-Christmas game on broadcast to earn a larger audience was Lakers/Trail Blazers on NBC in February 2002 (7.590M), a game that had a lead-in from the Daytona 500.
Overall, the game ranks as the third-most viewed non-Christmas game since the current TV deal went into effect, behind Heat/Cavaliers in December 2010 (7.052M, TNT) and Heat/Celtics in October 2010 (7.348M, TNT).
When Christmas Day games are included, Heat/Lakers ranks as the thirteenth-most viewed game dating back to 2002.
Of the fifteen most-viewed regular season games since 2002, eleven involved the Lakers, seven involved the Heat, and four — including the two most-viewed games — were Heat/Lakers matchups.
Already this season, six NBA games on ABC have earned at least a 3.0 rating, just shy of last year’s full-season total (seven) and double the full-season total two years ago (three). That does not include Sunday’s Knicks/Celtics game, which earned a 4.3 overnight and will likely finish with at least a 3.0 when the final ratings are released.
15 Most-Viewed NBA Regular Season Games
Since current television deals went into effect in 2002
|
#
|
Date | Game | Net | Rating | Viewers (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Sat., 12/25/04 | Heat/Lakers | ABC |
7.3
|
13,182
|
|
2
|
Sat., 12/25/10 | Heat/Lakers | ABC |
6.4
|
13,113
|
|
3
|
Sun., 12/25/11 | Bulls/Lakers | ABC |
5.6
|
11,014
|
|
4
|
Thu., 12/25/08 | Celtics/Lakers | ABC |
5.3
|
9,960
|
|
5
|
Sun., 12/25/11 | Heat/Mavericks | ABC |
4.9
|
9,023
|
|
6
|
Sat., 12/25/10 | Celtics/Magic | ABC |
4.6
|
8,657
|
|
7
|
Fri., 12/25/09 | Cavaliers/Lakers | ABC |
4.4
|
8,316
|
|
8
|
Sun., 12/25/05 | Lakers/Heat | ABC |
4.8
|
8,063
|
|
9
|
Wed., 12/25/02 | Kings/Lakers | ABC |
4.5
|
7,484
|
|
10
|
Tue., 10/26/10 | Heat/Celtics | TNT |
4.6
|
7,348
|
|
11
|
Thu., 12/25/03 | Rockets/Lakers | ABC |
4.1
|
7,187
|
|
12
|
Tue., 12/2/10 | Heat/Cavaliers | TNT |
4.2
|
7,052
|
|
13
|
Sun., 3/6/12 | Heat/Lakers | ABC |
4.3
|
7,037
|
|
14
|
Sun., 1/30/11 | Celtics/Lakers | ABC |
4.3
|
7,003
|
| 15 | Sun., 2/8/09 | Lakers/Cavaliers | ABC |
3.8
|
6,077
|
(Sunday’s ratings/viewership obtained from ESPN)
