The New York Knicks soap opera generated the most headlines this week, but that was not enough to get viewers interested in a sub-.500 team.
Wednesday’s Clippers/Knicks NBA regular season game, marked by the first quarter ejection of former Knicks PF Charles Oakley, scored 1.5 million viewers on ESPN — down 13% from Lakers/Cavaliers last year (1.8M) and down 3% from Heat/Cavaliers in 2015 (1.6M). Ratings fell 22% year-over-year (from 1.22 to 0.95).
Of New York’s past eight nationally televised games, six have declined in viewership. The lone exceptions were Knicks/Pacers on TNT January 23, for which no year-over-year comparison was possible, and Celtics/Knicks on ESPN Christmas Day. That comes with the caveat that most of the comparable games last year involved either the Cavaliers or Warriors.
Speaking of the NBA’s last two champions, both teams delivered big increases in recent days. In Wednesday’s nightcap, Bulls/Warriors had a 1.2 final rating and 2.0 million viewers — up 50% in ratings and 60% in viewership from Rockets/Blazers last year (0.8, 1.2M) and up 20% and 38% respectively from Rockets/Clippers in 2015 (1.0, 1.4M).
That was followed by 2.1 million viewers for Cavaliers/Thunder on TNT the following night, up 88% from Pelicans/Thunder last year (1.1M) though up just a fraction of a percent from Cavaliers/Bulls in ’15 (2.1M). Ratings were not immediately available.
Rounding out the recent action, Celtics/Blazers had 1.3 million in Thursday’s nightcap. There was no comparable window last year.
