With the NBA headed into the stretch run in March and April, viewership across TNT, ABC and ESPN is up 4%, with games averaging 1.96 million viewers, compared to 1.87 million viewers at the same point last season. NBA RSNs are also up 4% to date, with teams averaging a 2.7 local rating, compared to a 2.6 rating last year. ABC and ESPN are seeing solid viewership gains for their game coverage compared to the same period during ’14-15. ABC is averaging 4.83 million viewers for its seven game telecasts to date, which includes two Christmas Day games and three Saturday night games as part of a new window. Those Saturday night games have helped ABC to a 4% jump in viewership through the same time frame last year (six games), when each of the non-Christmas games aired in Sunday afternoon windows. ESPN is averaging 1.71 million viewers for its 52 games to date, up 6% from 1.62 million viewers. Meanwhile, WatchESPN is having the platform’s best NBA regular season yet. The average minute audience for games streamed on WatchESPN is up 82%, while average unique viewers is up 73%.
FROM THE ATLANTA STUDIOS: TNT, which had no Christmas Day games this season after two last season, is seeing viewership down 2% to date. The net is averaging 1.70 million viewers, down from 1.74 million through the same period last season. If the Christmas Day games from last season are removed from TNT's average, the net is actually up 4% in viewership (1.70 vs. 1.64 million viewers). TNT has also seen strong gains after the New Year. Game viewership in Q1 to date is 19% over last year. Meanwhile, games on NBA TV are averaging 326,000 viewers, which includes the net’s most-viewed telecast ever (playoff or regular season) on Jan. 25 when Spurs-Warriors (blacked out in local markets) drew 1.4 million viewers. NBA TV’s average to date is up 11% from the same point last season. NBA.com and the NBA App also are on record pace with more than 5.3 billion videos viewed across platforms worldwide.
