Rumors of the NBA’s viewership demise have been greatly exaggerated.
As the regular season carries on, the NBA has narrowed the gap on its year-over-year viewership decline. According to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, the league’s viewership has declined just 1% across ABC, ESPN, and TNT versus this point last year. Games on those three networks are averaging 1.58 million viewers.
ABC, in particular, is helping lift the NBA out of its early-season hole.
Per ESPN PR, NBA viewership on ABC is up 10% versus last season, delivering an average of 2.68 million viewers per game. That figure is largely lifted by the fact that ABC aired five games on Christmas Day this season as opposed to just two games on the holiday last season.
The numbers signify a near-complete turnaround from the NBA’s early-season viewership figures. Prior to Christmas Day, NBA viewership was down about 20% year-over-year. ABC’s three additional games helped erase that deficit almost instantly, with attention from events like the Luka Dončić trade chipping in to help the league draw close to even.
Per Sports Media Watch, ABC’s NBA Saturday Primetime window is averaging 2.82 million viewers, a bit higher than the network’s average overall. That figure is down 10% versus last year’s average for the window (3.13 million viewers), though the NBA Cup Final aired on a Saturday night last season and on Tuesday this season. ABC’s NBA Sunday Showcase is averaging 2.14 million viewers, down 1% year-over-year.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.