The Warriors and Lakers sent NBA viewership in opposite directions this week. In other news, Sunday Night Hockey led NBCSN’s NHL coverage for the week, and Serena Williams‘ return to the final boosted Indian Wells to a four-year high.
Warriors Big, Lakers Small, on National TV
- Wednesday’s Clippers/Warriors NBA regular season game drew a 1.6 final rating and 2.6 million viewers on ESPN, up 60% in ratings and 68% in viewership from Thunder/Spurs last year (1.0, 1.5M) and up 78% and 100%, respectively, from Grizzlies/Jazz in 2014 (0.9, 1.3M). Earlier, Knicks/Bulls had 1.4 million — up 49% from Bulls/Raptors last year (953K) but down 58% from Heat/Pacers in ’14 (3.3M). On Tuesday, TNT had 1.2 million for Rockets/Thunder (+4%) and 946,000 for Grizzlies/Lakers (-30%). The latter was the 11th telecast of the season with fewer than one million viewers*, up from nine at the same point last year.
Sunday Night is Hockey Night For NBCSN
- Capitals/Penguins scored 648,000 viewers on NBCSN’s Sunday Night Hockey, the network’s top NHL audience of the week. There was no comparable game last year. The Wild/Blackhawks nightcap had 588,000, up 143% from Sharks/Penguins last year (242K) and up 62% from Red Wings/Blackhawks in ’14 (363K). In other action, Flyers/Islanders had 192,000 the following night, Kings/Wild 323,000 on Tuesday (+32%), and Bruins/Rangers 532,000 on Wednesday — down 7% from Blackhawks/Flyers last year (569K) and down 3% from Blues/Blackhawks in 2014 (547K).
Serena Boosts Indian Wells in Defeat
- The singles finals of the Indian Wells tennis tournament, featuring Serena Williams‘ return to the final for the first time since 2001, scored 600,000 viewers on ESPN Sunday afternoon — up 14% from last year (526K), up 3% from 2014 (584K), and the largest audience for the event since it last aired on ABC in 2012 (844K).
* Not including games on NBA TV.
(Numbers via Programming Insider, ShowBuzz Daily [1], [2], [3], [4])
