A strong opening week has NBA ratings still trending above the past two years.
NBA games have averaged 2.1 million viewers across ESPN and TNT through last night, up 8% from last year (1.9M) and up 13% from 2015 (1.8M). Because the season started a week early this year, there have been more telecasts (22) than at the same point the past two years (18).
The strong start is primarily the result of opening week, which posted a 35% increase in viewership. Since opening week, viewership has actually slipped 8% from last year (from 1.79M to 1.64M) and 2% from 2015 (1.68M).
On Wednesday, Lakers-Celtics delivered a 1.7 rating and 2.6 million viewers on ESPN, the largest audience of the season outside of opening night. Viewership increased 138%* from Nets-Knicks last year (1.1M) and 74%* from the last Lakers-Celtics game on national TV, on ESPN back in February (1.5M).
The T’Wolves-Warriors nightcap had a 1.5 (+60%*) and 2.1 million (+49%*).
Last night on TNT, Cavaliers-Rockets scored 2.0 million viewers — up 24% from Bulls-Heat in Dwyane Wade‘s return to Miami last year (1.6M) and up 35% from Warriors-T’Wolves in 2015 (1.5M).
Not all the recent numbers have been positive. TNT’s Thunder-Nuggets nightcap fell 14% from Lakers-Kings last year (from 1.5M to 1.3M) and ESPN posted declines for both games of its NBA doubleheader last Friday, Cavaliers-Wizards (1.8M, -12%*) and Celtics-Thunder (2.3M, -6%*).
In addition to the increases on TNT and ESPN, viewership is also up 59% on NBA TV. The network’s average of 437,000 is a six-year high, per Sports Business Daily.
* ESPN Nielsen ratings now include streaming viewership on television. Comparisons are to last year’s TV-only audiences.
[Numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 11.7, 11.9, 11.10; avg. compiled by SMW; additional info from Sports Business Daily 11.10]
