Lakers-Warriors play-in game averages 5.618 million viewers, most for an ESPN broadcast since 2019 WCF
The Lakers and Warriors drew the best audience for a play-in game so far.
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TNT drew their best NBA Opening Night doubleheader viewership since 2017
These were the best Opening Night viewership numbers for TNT since the Cavs-Celtics and Warriors-Rockets doubleheader in 2017.
The NBA’s first-ever October Finals saw a new low Game 1 rating, down 45 percent from last year’s Warriors-Raptors Game 1
Lakers-Heat averaged 7.41 million viewers, the lowest number ever recorded for a NBA Finals game (based on data going back to 1988).
NBA viewership remains down compared to last year heading into All-Star Weekend
The news isn't all bad, though.
Trail Blazers-Lakers averaged 4.41 million viewers Friday, ESPN’s second-largest NBA regular season audience ever
The only higher-viewed regular-season game ever on ESPN was Lakers-Rockets in 2003, the first game between Shaquille O'Neal and Yao Ming.
Mark Cuban blames cord-cutting for NBA’s declining TV ratings
"All of our national broadcasts are exclusively available on cable, which is losing subs daily."
The national TV bet on the Pelicans looks a lot worse after Zion Williamson’s injury
Williamson is out six to eight weeks, which is not great for the Pelicans' upcoming lineup of national TV appearances.
NBA Finals Game 5 sees Raptors set another Canadian record, beat Big Bang Theory series finale
The average audience of 6.9 million viewers (English and French) here broke a lot of Canadian sports viewership marks, and even beat the Canadian audience for The Big Bang Theory's series finale.
NBA Finals Game 3 ties decade-plus low, provides worst overnight of the series
This year's NBA Finals continues to not produce great U.S. numbers.
Warriors-Blazers drew viewers despite sweep: fourth-highest CF average ever for ESPN, up from 2017 WCF
The Western Conference Finals didn't look great from a market standpoint, but wound up being a ratings win for ESPN even with only four games.
NBA’s local ratings declined by 4% this season
A number of large market teams saw declines this season.
NBA regional ratings have dropped by 10 percent on average, while TNT broadcasts are down 18 percent
While 15 of the 28 RSNs considered in a Sports Business Journal analysis are up from last year, there's still an average audience drop thanks to some big losses.
NBA ratings are down 26 percent year-over-year on TNT, six percent on ESPN, and LeBron’s move west is a big reason why
It's been the early half of doubleheaders that's been hit particularly hard, and LeBron being in the West is a factor there.
