Super Bowl weekend brought weak numbers for the NBA on ABC.
Cavaliers/Knicks had a 1.7 final rating and 2.8 million viewers on ABC’s NBA Saturday Primetime last weekend, down 15% in ratings and 13% in viewership from Thunder/Warriors last year (2.0, 3.2M) but up 55% and 67% respectively from Clippers/Spurs in 2014 (1.1, 1.7M), both of which aired on ESPN.
Cleveland’s easy win delivered the fourth-smallest audience in the young history of NBA Saturday Primetime (11 telecasts), ahead of three games last season — Thunder/Spurs (2.6M), Cavaliers/Bulls (2.0M) and Rockets/Bulls (1.9M). Head-to-head, it trailed the competing NFL Honors on FOX (3.2M).
The following day, Clippers/Celtics drew a 1.3 and 2.1 million — flat in ratings and up 5% in viewership from Clippers/Heat last year (1.3, 2.0M). Though viewership increased, the 1.3 rating tied the NBA’s lowest rating on Super Bowl Sunday since Blazers/Mavericks on ESPN in 2003 (1.1).
Coverage on ESPN and TNT fared better. ESPN scored a 0.9 and 1.5 million viewers for Lakers/Celtics on Friday night, up 50% in ratings and 72% in viewership from Pacers/Hawks last year (0.6, 882K) and up 29% and 54% respectively from Clippers/Raptors in 2015 (0.7, 984K). Results were less positive for the Mavericks/Blazers nightcap, which fell 22% in ratings (0.9 to 0.7) and 15% in viewership (1.4M to 1.2M).
On Monday, TNT earned 1.7 million for Cavaliers/Wizards — its largest NBA audience in more than a month for a game that did not involve the Warriors. Spurs/Grizzlies drew 1.3 million immediately afterward. There were no comparable games last year.
(Numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 2/7, 2/8, Programming Insider 2/6)
