Viewership sank by nearly a third for the NBA’s second-annual awards show.
Monday’s NBA Awards earned a 0.8 rating and 1.21 million viewers on TNT, down 27% in ratings and 32% in viewership from the inaugural event last year (1.1, 1.79M).
The telecast, in which Rockets G James Harden was named Most Valuable Player, was 36% below the NBA’s average regular season audience on ABC, ESPN and TNT (1.89M).
Compared to other sports awards shows, it was no match for February’s NFL Honors (3.5M) or last year’s Heisman Trophy Presentation (2.2M), but topped the most recent awards shows in college basketball (150K), the NHL (198K) and NASCAR (327K).
The declines were particularly steep in the younger demographics. The NBA Awards pulled a 0.47 rating in adults 18-49 and a 0.45 in adults 18-34, down 38% and 44% respectively from last year (0.76; 0.81). It was not among the night’s top ten shows in either demo.
The NBA Awards concluded a downer month for the NBA. Viewership declined for the NBA Draft (-14%) and every game of the NBA Finals. Prior to the finals, NBA viewership had been on the upswing — with the regular season up 8% and the first three rounds of the playoffs up 18%.
[Numbers from Programming Insider 6.26; ShowBuzz Daily 6.26]
