A game that was not originally on the national TV schedule earned the season’s top non-Christmas audience.
Sunday’s Cavaliers/Rockets NBA regular season game drew a 2.8 final rating and 4.3 million viewers on ABC, flat in ratings and up 2% in viewership from Thunder/Clippers in 2013 (2.8, 4.2M). There was no comparable window last year.
The Rockets’ win ranks as the most-watched non-Christmas game this season, topping the previous mark of 4.2 million for Thunder/Cavaliers on ABC in January. The Cavaliers have played in the five most-watched non-Christmas games and six of the top eight overall.
The game also tied the highest non-Christmas regular season rating on ABC since Lakers/Heat in February 2013 (4.1), and earned the network’s second-largest such audience over that span.
Cleveland scored a 15.8 rating for the game, its highest for a regular season telecast on ESPN/ABC since Celtics/Cavaliers in March 2010. Houston delivered an 8.6, the market’s highest on ESPN/ABC since Lakers/Rockets in March 2008 — the final game of the Rockets’ 22-game winning streak.
Earlier in the day, Clippers/Bulls drew a 1.7 and 2.5 million — up a tick in ratings but down 4% in viewership from Knicks/Bulls last year (1.6, 2.6M), and down 39% in both measures from Heat/Knicks in 2013 (2.8, 4.1M).
(Sun. numbers from ESPN)
