The Chicago Cubs and Thursday Night Football have the NBA entering Christmas on a down note.
Heading into Sunday’s Christmas Day games, the NBA regular season has averaged 1.6 million viewers across ESPN and TNT — down 7% from the comparable point last year (1.7M).
On ESPN in particular, regular season games have averaged a 1.0 rating and 1.5 million viewers — down a tick in ratings and 9% in viewership from the comparable point last year (1.1, 1.7M). That includes six early season games that aired opposite the World Series, five of which declined by double-digits.
ESPN averaged 1.4 million viewers for its NBA coverage during the World Series, down a whopping 34% from 2.1 million over the same two week stretch last year. In the seven weeks since the Cubs clinched their first title since 1908, ESPN’s viewership has actually risen 3% over last year (from 1.5M to 1.6M).
Competition has taken an even greater toll on TNT, which is averaging 1.6 million viewers entering Christmas Day (-4%). TNT got off to a strong start to the season, averaging 2.4 million viewers through November 10 — up 37% from last year (1.7M). That all changed once NBC began simulcasting Thursday Night Football games on November 17. Since that point, TNT has averaged just 998,000 viewers, down 39%. That includes just 770,000 for Lakers/Heat and 995,000 for Spurs/Clippers this past Thursday night.
Keep in mind that Thursday Night Football competition is nothing new to TNT. Prior to this year, however, the majority of late season Thursday night games aired on NFL Network alone, rather than NFL Network and an over-the-air broadcast network.
Of course, there are factors beyond tough competition. ESPN had just 1.1 million viewers for Lakers/Sixers and Mavericks/Jazz last Friday night, down 36% and 8% respectively from last year’s doubleheader of Clippers/Spurs and Pelicans/Suns. The culprit that night was a pair of games better suited for 2001 than 2016.
| NBA AVERAGES ON ESPN/TNT | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ESPN | vs. World Series | Since W.S. | Overall | |||
| 1.44M | -34% | 1.56M | +3% | 1.53M | -9% | |
| TNT | Before TNF/NBC | vs. TNF/NBC | Overall | |||
| 2.38M | +37% | 998K | -39% | 1.62M | -4% | |
(Recent figures via ShowBuzz Daily 12/21, 12/23; ESPN averages from ESPN)
