As could be expected, ratings and viewership declined for the NBA All-Star Game opposite the Winter Olympics.
The 2014 NBA All-Star Game earned a 4.3 U.S. rating and 7.5 million viewers on TNT Sunday night, down 7% in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year (4.6, 8.0M), and down 2% and up 6%, respectively, from 2012 (4.4, 7.1M). Compared to the last time the All-Star Game aired opposite the Winter Olympics (2010), this year’s game increased by 13% in ratings (4.3 to 3.8) and 10% in viewership (7.5M to 6.8M).
Viewership was the highest for an NBA All-Star Game during the Winter Olympics since 2002 — when coverage aired on Olympic broadcaster NBC (13.1M). Head-to-head, the Olympics topped the game by 181% in ratings (12.1 to 4.3), 183% in viewership (21.3M to 7.5M), and a relatively modest 48% among adults 18-49 (4.9 to 3.3).
Compared to other All-Star games, the NBA finished behind the NFL Pro Bowl (6.6, 11.4M) and MLB All-Star Game (6.9, 11.0M), but edged the MLB game in the adults 18-49 demo (3.3 to 3.2). The NHL All-Star Game was last played two years ago.
In other All-Star Weekend action, NBA All-Star Saturday Night earned a 3.1 U.S. rating and 5.7 million viewers — down 6% in ratings and 4% in viewership from last year (3.3, 5.9M), and down 14% and 9%, respectively, from 2012 (3.6, 6.2M). Compared to the last time the event aired opposite the Winter Olympics, ratings were flat and viewership increased 5% (from 5.4M to 5.7M). Viewership has now declined for NBA All-Star Saturday Night in three consecutive years.
Saturday’s telecast had a 2.6 rating among adults 18-49. Though finishing well behind the Olympics in ratings (9.6 to 3.1), viewership (17.1M to 5.7M) and the adults 18-49 demo (4.4 to 2.6), the telecast crushed NASCAR’s Sprint Unlimited on Fox Sports 1 (2.0, 3.1M, 0.9 A18-49).
Friday’s NBA Rising Stars Challenge also declined from previous years, earning 1.8 million viewers on TNT — down 6% from last year (1.9M) and down 35% from 2012 (2.7M). Bucking the trend was the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, which earned 2.3 million viewers on ESPN — up 8% from last year (2.3M), up 4% from 2012 (2.4M), and the largest audience ever for the game. The game’s 1.5 U.S. rating matched the past two years as the highest ever for the event.
Viewership For NBA All-Star Game and Saturday Night
Past decade
(This year’s numbers from Turner Sports via The Futon Critic, The Futon Critic)
