The NBA All-Star Game finished with just under 6.8 million viewers on Sunday night across TNT and TBS, marking the game’s lowest figure since ’08 (6.3 million when the game was just on TNT). This year’s figure is down 11% from last year in L.A., which also aired up against the Pyeongchang Games. Also interesting this year was ESPN putting a live UFC event opposite the All-Star Game. UFC Fight Night, which was headlined by Francis Ngannou’s win over Cain Velasquez, drew 1.5 million viewers on ESPN from 9:00-11:56pm ET. The net last year drew less than 300,000 viewers for a couple of World Series of Poker repeats opposite the All-Star Game. FS1 carried the UFC opposite the game last year, drawing only 893,000 viewers. However, it was not all bad news for Turner Sports. NBA All-Star Saturday Night, which features the Slam Dunk Contest and 3-Point Challenge, drew just over 5 million viewers on TNT, up 8% from ’18 (also Olympic competition last year). Friday’s Rising Stars game on TNT (1.5 million viewers) also drew its best audience since ’15.
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NBA ALL-STAR GAME TREND
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YEAR
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NETWORKS
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VIEWERS (000)
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'19
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TNT/TBS
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6,797
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'18
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TNT/TBS
|
7,654
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'17
|
TNT/TBS
|
7,751
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NBA ALL-STAR SATURDAY NIGHT TREND
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YEAR
|
NETWORK
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VIEWERS (000)
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|
'19
|
TNT
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5,018
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|
'18
|
TNT
|
4,660
|
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'17
|
TNT
|
5,627
|
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NBA RISING STARS CHALLENGE TREND
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|
YEAR
|
NETWORK
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VIEWERS (000)
|
|
'19
|
TNT
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1,460
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|
'18
|
TNT
|
1,394
|
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'17
|
TNT
|
1,156
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