Golden State Warriors fans aren’t the only ones rooting for their team to challenge the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls for the best regular-season record in NBA history. You better believe that TNT, ABC and ESPN executives are pulling for them as well.
As the league enters the stretch run of the season and the Warriors continute to lay waste to their competition, all parties are hoping to capitalize on the increased ratings NBA progrmming is seeing so far. Combined viewership across TNT, ABC and ESPN is up four percent as games average 1.96 million viewers (up fromt 1.87 million viewers this time last year).
The big winner so far is ESPN. With 52 games under their belt, The Worldwide Leader is averaging 1.71 million viewers, up six percent from last season. Also, WatchESPN is in the midst of its best NBA regular season to date, with average minute audiences up 82 percent and average unique viewers up 73 percent.
With seven telecasts so far, ABC is average 4.83 million viewers, which includes two Christmas Day games and three Saturday night broadcasts.
TNT is actually down two percent this year to 1.70 million viewers (from 1.74 million), though that’s due in large part to the fact that they had no Christmas Day games this season. TNT is also seeing a ratings rise post-New Years with viewership up 19 percent from a year ago.
Much of this can probably be attributed to the success of the Golden State Warriors. Not only are they dominant with a 50-5 record but they’re also an exciting team to watch led by a charistmatic superstar in Steph Curry. Couple them with the success of the San Antonio Spurs and the ever-present LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers and the stage is set for a solid finish to the NBA season, at least when it comes to TV ratings.
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