The Cavaliers were the only saving grace of a rough year for the NBA’s TV partners.
NBA regular season games averaged approximately 1.8 million viewers across ESPN, ABC and TNT (143 telecasts), down 9% from last year (2.0M), down 17% from 2013-14 (2.1M), and the least-watched season since at least 2009-10 — the year before LeBron James joined the Miami Heat.
TNT and ESPN averaged roughly 1.7 and 1.5 million viewers, respectively, which would mark each network’s smallest average since 2007-08. Official averages for the networks were not immediately available. As previously noted, ABC averaged 3.6 million for its coverage — up slightly from last year but its second-smallest average since 2007-08.
The Cavaliers were the top draw during the regular season, averaging approximately 2.8 million viewers for 25 telecasts. 20 of the Cavaliers 25 appearances had a year-over-year increase in viewership, and only two had declines (three others could not be compared to last year). The team played in seven of the nine most-watched games during the regular season, with Cavaliers/Heat on Christmas Day taking the top spot (9.3M).
With that said, the Cavaliers averaged fewer viewers than the Miami Heat in each of the four years LeBron James played for the team. Heat games averaged 3.1 million viewers last year, 2.9 million the season before, 3.7 million in 2011-12 and 4.0 million in 2010-11.
Outside of the Cavaliers, the NBA was a weak draw on national TV this season. The 118 non-Cavaliers games on ESPN, ABC and TNT averaged fewer than 1.6 million viewers, and outside of Christmas none managed to crack three million viewers. 79 of the 118 had a year-over-year decline in viewership and only 28 had increases (11 others could not be compared to last year).
The Knicks (2.1M), Thunder (2.1M) and Heat (2.0M) — three lottery teams — were the most-watched teams outside of Cleveland. The Bulls, Spurs and Lakers rounded out the top five, averaging 1.9 million per TV appearance. The Pistons were the least-watched team to make at least two appearances, averaging 785,000, followed by the Raptors (1.0M), Nets and Suns (1.1M each).
Twelve games this season had fewer than one million viewers, more than double last year’s five. Hornets/Raptors on the last day of the season was the least-watched game of the year, with just 717,000 viewers on ESPN.
Game-by-game viewership is available on the next page.
