TNT's NBA All-Star Saturday Lower Than '13, But Better Than Recent Olympic Years

TNT finished with a 3.1 rating and 5.7 million viewers for the NBA All-Star Saturday night telecast, a figure below recent years, but well above comparable telecasts during Olympic years. The telecast on Saturday night had competition from NBC's primetime coverage from Sochi, which aired from 8:30-11:00pm ET. Last year's All-Star Saturday telecast delivered a 3.3 rating and 5.9 million viewers, and while that event did not have Olympic competition, it aired up against Fox' telecast of the NASCAR Sprint Unlimited race (3.5 rating/5.7 million viewers). FS1 carried the NASCAR race this year. Compared to '10, Saturday night's telecast was flat in rating, but up 5% in viewership. Saturday night's telecast peaked at a 3.7 rating and 6.7 million viewers in the 10:45-11:00pm window during the Sprite Slam Dunk contest. Despite the Olympic competition, TNT's audience ranks among the top five in terms of viewership for NBA All-Star Saturday night in the 29-history of the event. Meanwhile, figures for last night's All-Star Game on TNT were not available at presstime due to the President's Day holiday.