Jump Ball: NBA Regular-Season Ratings Up On ABC, ESPN, TNT
ESPN's audience for the '07-08 NBA regular season was the largest since the net reacquired NBA rights for the '02-03 season. The net averaged a 1.3 coverage area rating and 1.5 million viewers for 70 telecasts, up 18.2% and 12.7%, respectively, from the 71 telecasts one year ago. ESPN this season also had two of the net's five largest regular-season audiences of all time. The Suns-Lakers game on February 20 (3.6 million viewers) and Suns-Celtics on February 22 (2.8 million viewers) rank third and fifth among ESPN's 404 regular-season telecasts since '02. On ABC this season, the net averaged a 2.2 rating and 3.2 million viewers for 19 telecasts, up 10.0% and 10.2%, respectively, from last season, when the net also had 19 telecasts. For 52 games on TNT, the NBA averaged a 1.3 coverage area rating and 1.5 million viewers, up 8.3% and 12.0%, respectively, from a year ago. ABC, ESPN and TNT all finished the regular season with double-digit gains among men 18-34, up 22%, 39% and 37%, respectively. The following lists NBA regular-season ratings and audience numbers for ABC, ESPN and TNT for '07-08 with comparisons to last season (THE DAILY).
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'07-08 NBA REGULAR-SEASON RATINGS
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|
NET
|
GMS
|
RAT.
|
HHs (000)
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
ABC '07-08
|
19
|
2.2
|
2,451
|
3,175
|
|
ABC '06-07
|
19
|
2.0
|
2,251
|
2,880
|
|
% +/-
|
10.0%
|
8.9%
|
10.2%
|
|
NET
|
GMS
|
COV. RAT.
|
HHs (000)
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
ESPN '07-08
|
70
|
1.3
|
1,206
|
1,468
|
|
ESPN '06-07
|
71
|
1.1
|
1,061
|
1,303
|
|
% +/-
|
18.2%
|
13.7%
|
12.7%
|
|
NET
|
GMS
|
COV. RAT.
|
HHs (000)
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
TNT '07-08
|
52
|
1.3
|
1,211
|
1,473
|
|
TNT '06-07
|
52
|
1.2
|
1,061
|
1,315
|
|
% +/-
|
8.3%
|
14.1%
|
12.0%
|
|
