The NBA’s last two champions delivered big increases for ESPN over the past week.
Warriors/Clippers scored a 1.5 final rating and 2.4 million viewers on the latest edition of ESPN’s NBA Wednesday, up 50% in ratings and 74% in viewership from last year’s Hawks/Mavericks game (1.0, 1.4M) and up 88% and 109% respectively from Heat/Nuggets in 2014 (0.8, 1.1M).
Golden State’s rout was the fifth-most watched NBA game this season, with the Warriors having played in four of the top five. All eight Warriors games on TNT or ESPN have posted an increase in viewership, seven of those by double-digits, with the caveat that only two of the comparable windows last year featured the team.
On a less positive note, viewership trailed all four of last year’s Warriors/Clippers games.
Earlier in the night, Cavaliers/Knicks had a 1.2 and 1.8 million — up 50% in ratings and 49% in viewership from Bulls/Celtics last year (0.8, 1.2M) and up a third and 34% respectively from Pelicans/Mavericks in 2014 (0.9, 1.4M). The results were a virtual repeat of six nights earlier, when Cavaliers/Bulls had a 1.1 (+57%) and 1.7 million (+55%).
Four of the Cavaliers’ six games on TNT or ESPN this season have posted an increase in viewership, the lone exceptions coming on nights when the Indians were playing in the World Series.
In other action, last Friday’s Rockets/Nuggets nightcap had a 0.8 and 1.2 million — down 38% in ratings and 43% in viewership from Cavaliers/Pelicans last year (1.3, 2.1M). Viewership has dropped for nine of the 15 windows on TNT or ESPN that have not featured either Cleveland or Golden State. Keep in mind that nearly half of the comparable windows last year featured one of the two teams.
(Numbers from ESPN)
