ESPN and ABC posted gains for the first half of the NBA season. In other news, the NBA returned from its All-Star hiatus with increases on TNT, and the Premier Boxing Champions scored its two smallest audiences in successive weeks on Fox Sports 1.
NBA Up on ABC, ESPN, Through All-Star Break
- ABC averaged a 2.9 rating and 5.1 million viewers for NBA coverage during the first half of the season (six telecasts), up a tick in ratings and 7% in viewership from last year (2.8, 4.7M) and up 7% and 11%, respectively, from the 2013-14 season (2.7, 4.5M). ESPN averaged a 1.1 and 1.7 million, flat in ratings and up 7% in viewership from last year (1.1, 1.6M) but down a tick and 5%, respectively, from 2013-14 (1.2, 1.8M). TNT did not release its first half averages. (ESPN Media Zone)
Solid Boost For Thursday’s NBA on TNT
- Thursday’s Bulls/Cavaliers NBA regular season game scored a 1.3 final rating and 1.9 million viewers on TNT, up 18% in ratings and 9% in viewership from Mavericks/Thunder last year (1.1, 1.8M) but down 48% and 50%, respectively, from Heat/Thunder in 2014 (2.5, 3.8M). The Spurs/Clippers nightcap had a 1.1 and 1.7 million, flat in ratings and up 15% in viewership from the same matchup last year (1.1, 1.5M), but down 21% and 15%, respectively, from Rockets/Warriors in ’14 (1.4, 2.0M). (via Programming Insider)
Back-to-Back Lows For PBC on Fox Sports 1
- Coverage of the Premier Boxing Champions series on Fox Sports 1 drew 142,000 viewers Tuesday night and just 76,000 the previous week, marking the two smallest television audiences in the brief history of the series (not including telecasts on Bounce TV). Fox Sports 1 has aired the four least-watched PBC cards and ten of the bottom twelve. (via Sports TV Ratings [1], [2])
