Even absent Bay Area viewers, the Warriors delivered another big increase for ESPN. In other news, the end of the Warriors’ winning streak neared a season-high on NBA TV, and NBCSN scored its top NHL audience since Opening Night.
Despite Blackout, Suns/Warriors Up Big on ESPN
- Wednesday’s Suns/Warriors NBA regular season game drew a 1.3 final rating and 2.0 million viewers on ESPN, up 63% in ratings and 69% in viewership from Rockets/Nuggets last year (0.8, 1.2M) but off a tick and flat, respectively, compared to Bulls/Rockets in 2013 (1.4, 2.0M). ESPN’s telecast was blacked out in the Bay Area, where Comcast SportsNet Bay Area earned its highest Warriors rating ever (11.42). Earlier, Grizzlies/Bulls had a 0.9 and 1.3 million — up 29% in ratings and 22% in viewership from Nets/Raptors last year (0.7, 1.0M) but down 55% and 54%, respectively, from Pacers/Heat in 2013 (2.0, 2.8M).
End of Warriors’ Streak Nears Season-High For NBA TV
- NBA TV scored 630,000 viewers for Warriors/Bucks Saturday night, which saw Milwaukee snap Golden State’s 24-game winning streak — trailing only Warriors/Suns on Black Friday (648K) and Warriors/Pacers on December 8 (823K) as the network’s top game of the season. Including Raptors/Warriors on November 17 (548K), the four largest audiences on NBA TV this season have involved Golden State. The national broadcast was blacked out in the home markets; as previously noted, the game had a 9.96 rating on CSN Bay Area and a 4.02 on Fox Sports Milwaukee.
Pens/Bruins Top NHL Game on NBCSN Since Opening Night
- The Penguins/Bruins NHL regular season game had a 0.4 final rating and 626,000 viewers on NBCSN, up a tick in ratings and 24% in viewership from Bruins/Wild last year (506K), up a tick and 30%, respectively, from Flyers/Blackhawks in 2013 (480K) and the most-watched NHL game on NBCSN since Opening Night. Avalanche/Blackhawks had 242,000 the previous night, up 88% from Predators/Rangers in 2013 (129K); there was no comparable window last year.
(Wed. numbers via TV Media Insights, CSN Bay Area; Tue./Sat. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily [1], [2])
