On-court struggles by some of the NBA’s marquee franchises, including the Lakers, Knicks and Celtics, led to viewership drops for TV partners during the ’13-14 regular season. It was the second straight season of declines. ABC averaged 3.64 million viewers (2.3 rating) for 15 games, marking the net’s lowest figure since ’07-08. The net’s peak season since acquiring NBA rights remains the lockout-shortened ’11-12 season, with 5.42 million viewers. ESPN averaged 1.68 million viewers this season (1.1 rating), down around 5% from ’12-13 and the net’s lowest mark since ’09-10. The decline for ESPN comes despite the net having its most-viewed slate of Christmas Day games on record. TNT averaged 1.9 million viewers this season, marking the net’s lowest mark since ’09-10. Its average viewership was down 5% compared to ’12-13. On top of the struggles of marquee franchises, TNT's telecasts this season had double the number of games decided by 20 points or more compared to '12-13 (12 games). Despite the viewership dropoff, this season ranked as the fourth-best audience in TNT's 30-year history with the league. NBA TV finished with 316,000 viewers for its 98 games this season, down 6% from last season. However, the league-owned net saw its best audience on record with the Dec. 10 Heat-Pacers game (920,000 viewers).
|
VIEWERSHIP TREND FOR NBA REGULAR-SEASON GAMES
|
|
SEASON
|
ABC (000)
|
TNT (000)
|
ESPN (000)
|
NBA TV (000)
|
|
'13-14
|
3,637
|
1,900
|
1,678
|
316
|
|
'12-13
|
4,701
|
2,002
|
1,768
|
336
|
|
'11-12*
|
5,421
|
2,498
|
1,863
|
337
|
|
'10-11
|
5,110
|
2,397
|
1,988
|
253
|
|
'09-10
|
3,694
|
1,723
|
1,561
|
n/a
|
|
'08-09
|
3,684
|
1,711
|
1,680
|
n/a
|
|
'07-08
|
3,175
|
1,473
|
1,468
|
n/a
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NOTE: * = Lockout-shortened season.
