Viewership for the NBA Playoffs headed into the Finals is up 3% across all TV partners compared to the same period last postseason, fueled in large part by big audience numbers for Warriors games. For the 78 playoff games through the conference finals, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TNT and NBA TV are averaging 4.19 million viewers, up from 4.06 million viewers for 75 games through the same period last season. Excluded from this year’s average was a game on ESPNews, which is no longer rated. While up from ’15, the 4.19 million viewers is down from 4.29 million viewers for 84 games headed into the ’14 Finals. That year, there were five first-round series that went seven games. During the NBA Playoffs, nine of the 10 most-watched sports telecasts on cable have been NBA games (April 16-May 31). During the same period, 11 of the top 20 cable telecasts overall have been NBA games, while NBA games have won 35 out of 45 nights on cable. ESPN even won cable for the nights the net had Cavaliers-Raptors, despite not having audience figures from the Toronto market.
I’M TNT, I’M DYNAMITE: TNT averaged 4.64 million viewers for its 42 games during the postseason, up 16% from last season, when it averaged 4.01 million viewers for 41 telecasts. The sharp increase comes despite TNT seeing a first-round drop due to a slew of lopsided scores. The seven-game Warriors-Thunder WCF made all the difference. The series averaged 9.9 million viewers, marking the most-watched WCF ever on cable TV. The series was up 46% from the Cavs’ sweep of the Hawks last year, and up 47% from the six-game Spurs-Thunder WCF in ‘14.
DISNEY’S WORLD: ABC averaged 5.34 million viewers for its nine playoff games to date, up around 2% from 5.23 million viewers last year, when it also had nine games headed into the Finals. ABC had two Game 7s this year and only one last season. Meanwhile, ESPN saw a sharp drop for its games this postseason. The net was up slightly through the first round, but had some non-competitive conference semifinals series. ESPN averaged 4.18 million viewers for its playoff games this season, down 10% from 30 games last year.
GOLDEN TOUCH: Telecasts involving the Warriors have accounted for the 11 most-viewed games this postseason to date, with the Western Conference Finals telecasts on TNT accounting for the top seven audiences. The top game not involving the Warriors was ESPN’s Cavaliers-Raptors Eastern Conference Finals Game 4, which drew 6.14 million viewers. The strong Warriors’ numbers helped the NBA average 7.94 million viewers for all conference finals telecasts across TNT and ESPN, up 12% from 7.09 million viewers last year.
