For the first time, the NBA Draft was held over two nights. The first-round coverage in prime time on Wednesday night averaged 4.41 million viewers across ESPN and ABC which was down 11% from the first round in 2023. Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch reports the second night averaged just 895,000 viewers, down 25% from the 2023 second round and down 20% from the year before.
Thursday’s coverage was originally scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET, however, the coverage was moved to start at 4 p.m. ET due to the presidential debate.
The second-round coverage peaked at 1.23 million viewers from 6 p.m. ET to 6:15 p.m. ET when the Los Angeles Lakers selected Bronny James, the son of LeBron James. The younger James was taken with the 55th pick overall in the draft.
Lewis notes in his story, the 895,000 average viewers for day two of the NBA Draft was higher than the average viewers for the first round of both Major League Baseball’s draft (744,000) and the NHL’s draft (681,000).
