NBA ratings: Curry's hot streak moving the needle

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Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis since 2006 as the founder and main writer of Sports Media Watch. You can contact him here or on the social media websites X (Twitter) or Bluesky.

News: NFL Network, LeBron James, Prime Video and more

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3 days ago

NFL Network is now available to view through the ESPN App; a representative for LeBron James denies "Last Dance"-style...

(Illustration) | CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 14: (L-R) Taylor Rooks, Udonis Haslem, Blake Griffin, Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash speak during the unveiling of Prime Video's new NBA On Prime Studio at The Culver Studios on October 14, 2025 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Prime Video) | Other Images – Courtesy: Derek Futterman, Sports Media Watch

Grading the NBA’s media partners after year one of the new rights deal

by Jon Lewis

1 month ago

With season one of the new rights deal in the books, here is a review of how the NBA's...

Brooklyn, NY - June 23, 2026 - Barclays Center: Malika Andrews, Tim Legler, Andraya Carter, AJ Dybantsa and Jay Bilas on the ESPN set for round one of the 2026 NBA Draft.
(Photo by Ben Solomon / ESPN Images)

Viewership up for round one of NBA Draft

by Jon Lewis

1 month ago

Featuring a highly-touted rookie class, the NBA Draft scored a solid viewership bump.

Kenny Smith joins ABC NBA Draft coverage

by Jon Lewis

1 month ago

TNT Sports' Kenny Smith will be a part of ABC's NBA Draft coverage, his first time covering the event...

Comments 2

Nate Johnson says:

5 years ago

As good as Steph’s showing is for the NBA and their TV partners, this makes me questions the importance of superstar being present in as many games as possible. I personally believe it’s understandable why a superstar or all-star level talent would want to load manage for the reasons to have longevity career and to be able to be at its best come playoffs time. It’s a serious challenge because while it’s important for the participants to be at their best, the spectators I’m sure hesitates in purchasing League Pass. Then there are other spectators who could question about purchasing single game tickets once arenas become available in full. Then there could be a thought as to rather an arena can present an experience where crowds are into the game if superstars or all-star level players are not a part of it from one side or another for certain spectators. With that said, while the NBA may want their top level players to play many games as possible, there are teams that don’t want a Jamal Murray situation on their hands. I point him out because he got injured so late in the season that it pretty much shut the door on the Nuggets hope of coming out of the West failing so in the bubble. So this isn’t a player-empowerment decision, this is also team’s decision as well.

The best example of that is when Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin were sat out by their original 2020-21 teams so they wouldn’t risk getting injured while being shopped to be traded. That could be an issue for players for simply not doing what they want to do which is play basketball. And when teams decides not to play their best players or a big named player then it dampens quality of service that is provided for those that paid out of their accounts and/or used their valuable time on the NBA.

The question has to be how can this be solved since this is a 2-way issue?

1.) I believe in the next CBA discussions, Commissioner Adam Silver seriously has to be the one to bring this problem to the table. It was reported that he is seeking for a pretty large raise on the next TV deals. What would be very important is to disallow the culture of basketball we’ve seen created since the Spurs were selecting games for Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker to play. Granted at that time, I thought they were getting up there in age and they had extra mileage from playing deep into the playoffs. However, that league was more physical than what we’re seeing right now. So Commissioner Silver has to be the one that make the players and owners know this is a serious problem in the regular season and it needs to be addressed.

2.) Players should be paid based on playing. Sure the players should sign contracts, but if they miss games then they shouldn’t receive the amount of money from their contract. This would give players the alert on them having to play and participate in a game. If the team decides they would want to sit out a player due to reasons on the player getting shopped then the player continues to receive full-pay while sitting out. If a team wants to sit out a player due to a non-severe injury then that would cost the player some money. While this could be controversial, a player playing on limited minutes restriction (min. of 20 minutes) would be the recommended option for concerning team/player that way the player earns full game check and fans can see the player play. If a player has a severe injury then the player continues to receive full-pay throughout its recovery and rehab.

If a player leaves a team for personal reasons, the acknowledgement has to be sent to league office which would then determine whether or not the player will receive full-pay or not they are out.

3.) Any game that a player misses that is inexcusable will have a stat line of 0’s across except in the Turnover stat from the game they missed. Jalen Rose came up with suggestions years ago on show, I thought it was a good one. Curious on if the Players Union would allow that though.

Bottomline, while I believe there could many variables in why the NBA is believed to have their ratings sink, I simply believe if they could have continuous player participation from their stars it would help them out a lot. Unfortunately, the CBA is years away so the “who’s playing/who’s not playing” question will continue to exist in the Regular Season.

With everything said, last weekend ESPN had a Sunday Doubleheader that was excellent and honestly it made me miss the Sunday Doubleheaders on ABC. I believe the Primetime package is greater than both because of fewer competition they face than Sunday slots, but it’s something about having more NBA games in those Sunday slots that seems more fitting and it hit me last Sunday when I had NO/NY and BK/MIA on. I saw next weekend they’re going to have I believe 1 early Saturday game on ESPN, ABC Primetime, and another Sunday Doubleheader on ESPN. I really wish this could be the norm for ESPN and ABC to broadcast so many NBA games, but I understand the commitment ESPN has towards College Basketball and it wouldn’t be wise to compete vs. NFL Playoffs, March Madness, and Masters Sunday.
- naburu38 says:
  
  5 years ago
  
  It would be easier to rule that each player must leave the court at least once on or before the 2-minute warning.