The NBA Draft provided a fitting epilogue to a season filled with ratings records.
The 2011 NBA Draft drew 3.202 million viewers on ESPN Thursday night, up 15% from last year (2.789M), up 21% from 2009 (2.639M), and the most-viewed NBA Draft since 1996.
For some perspective, the 2003 NBA Draft, in which LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade were each selected in the lottery, drew 2.822 million viewers.
Despite the fifteen-year high, the NBA Draft continues to pale in comparison to the NFL Draft. First round coverage of this year’s NFL Draft drew a combined seven million viewers on ESPN and NFL Network, and second and third round coverage drew approximately 3.3 million.
Thursday’s telecast drew a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49, up 25% from last year (1.2). The NBA Draft was the fourth-highest rated program of the night on cable in the demographic.
The fifteen-year viewership high is just the latest ratings triumph for the NBA. The past year (June 2010 to June 2011) has included:
- The most-viewed NBA game since 1998 (BOS/LAL G7: 28.203M, ABC).
- The second-most viewed game since 1998 (DAL/MIA G6: 23.880M, ABC).
- The most-viewed game ever on cable (MIA/CHI G1: 11.109M, TNT).
- The second-most viewed game ever on cable (CHI/MIA G3: 10.889M, TNT).
- The fourth-most viewed game ever on cable (MIA/CHI G5: 10.407M, TNT)
- The most-viewed regular season game ever on cable (MIA/BOS: 7.348M, TNT).
- The most-viewed regular seasons on ABC (5.110M) and ESPN (2.025M) since reacquiring rights in 2002.
- The most-viewed regular season ever on Turner Sports (2.453M).
- The most-viewed postseason in cable television history (5.534M, TNT).
- The most-viewed NBA Finals since 2001 (LAL/BOS: 18.144M, ABC).
- The third-most viewed NBA Finals since 2001 (DAL/MIA: 17.339M, ABC).
With a lockout on the horizon, those record numbers may soon seem like a distant memory of a bygone era.
(This year’s NBA Draft numbers from espnmediazone3.com; demo ratings from TV By the Numbers)
