Yet again, viewership increased for the Cavaliers on national TV. In other news, the NIT Championship hit a three-year low, and the Division II title game had double-digit declines.
Cavaliers Still Moving the Needle
- Thursday’s Heat/Cavaliers NBA regular season game drew just under 2.0 million viewers on TNT, up 3% from Spurs/Thunder last year (1.9M), up 89% from Bulls/Nets in 2013 (1.1M) and the largest NBA audience on cable since the NCAA Tournament started. Of the 24 Cavaliers games on national TV this year, 19 have had a year-over-year increase and only two have declined. Suns/Warriors drew 1.3 million later in the night, down 12% from Mavericks/Clippers last year (1.4M) and down 34% from Spurs/Thunder in 2013 (1.9M). (via ShowBuzz Daily)
NIT Championship Hits Three-Year Low
- The Stanford/Miami NIT championship game earned 1.0 million viewers on ESPN Thursday night, down 22% from Minnesota/SMU last year and Baylor/Iowa in 2013 (1.3M both years), and the smallest audience for the game since Stanford/Minnesota in 2012 (869K). On Tuesday, the Stanford/Old Dominion semifinal drew 827,000 (+9%) and Miami/Temple scored 895,000 (+62%). Both of last year’s comparable games aired on ESPN2. (via ShowBuzz Daily)
Double-Digit Drop For Division-II Title Game
- Last Saturday’s Florida Southern/Indiana (PA) NCAA Division-II Basketball Championship earned a 0.8 final rating and 1.2 million viewers on CBS, down 20% in ratings and 13% in viewership from Central Missouri/West Liberty last year (1.0, 1.3M). Compared to 2013, when the game aired over Final Four weekend, ratings increased by a third from a 0.6. (via Sports Business Daily)
