In a down year for the NBA, the league’s All-Star Game tied an all-time ratings low.
Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game earned a combined 3.8 rating and 6.80 million viewers across TNT and TBS, down 12% in ratings and 11% in viewership from last year (4.3, 7.65M) and down 10% and 12% respectively from 2017 (4.2, 7.75M).
The 3.8 rating is tied as the lowest ever for the NBA All-Star Game, matching 2008 and 2010. The TV audience ranks as the second-smallest for the game, ahead of only 2008 (6.33M). The list of NBA All-Star ratings going back to 1990 is available here.
The All-Star Game had been on a remarkably stable trajectory. From 2014-18, the game scored a 4.2 or 4.3 rating and between 7.2 and 7.8 million viewers each year.
Traditional game coverage on TNT had a 3.2 (-9%) and 5.77 million viewers (-11%). “Players Only” coverage on TBS posted a sharper decline, with a 0.6 (-14%) and 1.03 million (-14%).
In adults 18-49, Sunday’s game delivered a 2.8 rating — down 15% from last year (3.3) and down 10% from 2017 (3.1). It was the weekend’s top television program in the demo, beating the Daytona 500 on FOX (1.8) and a competing episode of “The Walking Dead” on AMC (1.7).
Ratings in adults 18-34 fell sharply, down 25% (3.5 to 2.6). Ratings in adults 25-54 slipped just 6% (3.1 to 2.9).
Compared to other all-star games, the NBA edition trails both the Pro Bowl (5.1, 8.23M) and MLB All-Star Game (5.2, 8.69M) by significant margins. However, it topped both of those games in adults 18-49, its 2.8 comfortably ahead of the NFL’s 2.2 and baseball’s 2.1.
For the weekend, the All-Star Game ranked second among all sporting events behind the Daytona 500, which also set a record-low (5.3, 9.17M).
The record-low performance comes amidst a down season for the NBA. Regular season viewership was down approximately eight percent entering All-Star weekend.
NBA All-Star ratings trend, past 20 years
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 2.20]
