If a bit off-pace out of the gate, the first round of the NBA Playoffs quickly pulled ahead of last year, surging down the stretch and closing strong following the Kentucky Derby.
Airing immediately after the most-watched Kentucky Derby on record, Saturday’s Sixers-Celtics first round NBA playoff Game 7 averaged 10.99 million viewers on NBC across Nielsen (4.4 rating, 9.24M viewers) and Adobe Analytics (1.8M) — marking the largest first round NBA playoff audience since the deciding Jazz-Kings Game 5 on NBC in 1999 (11.2M). The previous high over that span was a Nielsen-only 9.84 million for Warriors-Kings Game 7 on ABC in 2023.
The Sixers’ win ranks as the most-watched Triple Crown horse racing lead-out ever on NBC, topping the previous NBA game to air in a post-Triple Crown window — Game 1 of the 2002 Lakers-Kings NBA Western Conference Finals following The Preakness Stakes (9.15M).
(Note that Nielsen did not begin including out-of-home viewing in its estimates until 2020, only began doing so in 100 percent of markets a year ago, and is mere months into a new methodology that combines its traditional panel with “Big Data” from smart TVs and set-top boxes. Those changes will generally skew historical comparisons, particularly to years prior to 2020 .)
Viewership peaked in the opening quarter-hour at 12.6 million, and eventually returned to that level in the latter stages of the game, averaging 12.5 million from 9:30-9:45 PM ET. The full game increased 161% from a Nielsen-only 4.21 million for last year’s equivalent Clippers-Nuggets Game 7 on TNT and truTV, a non-exclusive telecast that had no meaningful lead-in.
In other Game 7 action, NBC averaged a combined 7.0 million for Raptors-Cavaliers Game 7 Sunday night (3.0, 5.79M per Nielsen; 1.2M per Adobe Analytics), up from last year’s non-exclusive Warriors-Rockets Game 7 on TNT and truTV (6.6M), albeit within the margin that can be explained by Nielsen methodological changes. Despite the low-profile pairing of Toronto and Cleveland, the Cavaliers’ win was the second-most watched of the playoffs thus far.
Overall, NBC’s 15 playoff games averaged 5.5 million — including an Adobe Analytics-measured streaming audience of 1.0 million — up 61% from last year’s comparable windows.
ABC averaged a Nielsen-only 2.9 and 5.75 million for Magic-Pistons Game 7 earlier in the day, up from the network’s previous first round Game 7 two years ago, Magic-Cavaliers in an earlier timeslot (4.3M). ESPN/ABC averaged 3.8 million for the first round, down 15% from last year, when the company had more of the highest-profile games.
Going back to the workweek, Prime Video averaged a 2.1 and 4.45 million for the Lakers’ Game 6 rout of the Rockets Friday night — the most-watched NBA telecast on the streamer to date. Viewership actually declined from Rockets-Warriors Game 6 on ESPN last year, which was closer but also non-exclusive (4.61M). In the early window, Pistons-Magic averaged a 1.3 and 2.78 million and an overlapping Cavaliers-Raptors drew 1.1 million.
Prime averaged 2.58 million for its 13 first round playoff games, and 2.56 million for the nine windows that can be compared directly to last year. The latter figure increased 11% from a year ago.
The full first round of the NBA Playoffs averaged 4.0 million viewers across NBCUniversal, ESPN/ABC and Prime Video (including Adobe Analytics for NBC games) — up 22% from last year on ESPN/ABC, TNT Sports and NBA TV (3.27M), and officially the highest average for the opening round since 1993. That figure excludes four games that aired exclusively on Peacock, which is not Nielsen-rated.
A combined 20 first round windows aired on broadcast television between NBC (15) and ABC (5), the most ever in the first round of the playoffs. Even in the days when NBC carried back-to-back weekends of back-to-back tripleheaders, the network topped out at 12 first round windows.
For the first time, all first round games were exclusive to national television. Prior to this year, all first round games on cable were non-exclusive and had to co-exist with local RSN simulcasts.
Rounding out the first round action, ESPN last Thursday averaged a 2.3 and 4.38 million for Nuggets-Timberwolves Game 6 — up 21% from Nuggets-Clippers on TNT Sports last year (3.63M) — and a 1.6 and 3.32 million for the Knicks’ obliteration of the Hawks, down 18% from Knicks-Pistons a year ago (4.02M). The night also included Celtics-Sixers on Peacock, which is not Nielsen-rated.
In Game 5 action last Wednesday night, ESPN averaged a 2.1 and 3.81 million for Rockets-Lakers (-19%), preceded by Raptors-Cavaliers at a 1.5 and 2.74 million (-22%). The early game aired opposite Magic-Pistons on Prime Video, which drew a 1.1 and 2.24 million. (There was no third game last year.)
ESPN last Tuesday drew a 1.7 and 3.07 million for Sixers-Celtics (+7%) and a 1.3 and 2.4 million for Trail Blazers-Spurs (-16%), with both games overlapping with Hawks-Knicks on NBC — which drew 3.8 million (1.7, 3.10M per Nielsen, plus Adobe Analytics).
Finally, as previously noted, NBC a week ago Monday averaged 5.4 million for Pistons-Magic Game 4 (2.6, 4.51M per Nielsen, plus Adobe Analytics) and 3.9 million for Timberwolves-Nuggets Game 5 (1.8, 3.05M per Nielsen, plus Adobe Analytics) — up 155% and down 3% respectively from last year’s equivalent TNT windows.
