Viewership of the NBA on ESPN platforms is up 5% year-over-year, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. Through 34 live games on the NBA on ESPN property, the broadcasts are averaging approximately 1.96 million viewers. The audience gains were fueled by a strong performance on Christmas Day, airing five games that averaged a collective 5.34 million viewers over 13 consecutive hours. Viewership metrics across all five Christmas Day games represented year-over-year improvement, led by the 511% increase for the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors prime time matchup that averaged 7.91 million viewers on ABC.
The matchup between the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets set a record as the most-watched late-night game on Christmas Day ever recorded, averaging 3.9 million viewers and up 165% year-over-year. All games throughout the day were available on ESPN, ABC, Disney+ and ESPN+, and the opening matchup featuring the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks included the Dunk the Halls animated alt-cast on ESPN2, Disney+ and ESPN+. Ahead of the holiday slate, viewership of NBA games airing on ABC, ESPN and TNT were down 18%, according to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch.
The NBA Countdown studio program airing throughout the year on ESPN and ABC is averaging 867,000 viewers through its first 17 episodes of the regular season, a 22% year-over-year increase. The primary broadcast team for the show includes Malika Andrews, Stephen A. Smith, Bob Myers, Kendrick Perkins and Shams Charania, all of whom took part in Emirates NBA Cup coverage and the Christmas Day edition of the show. Airing at 7:30 p.m. EST ahead of the prime time Lakers-Warriors game, the program averaged 5.38 million viewers, encompassing a 424% year-over-year increase from last year’s show on Christmas.
Disney will commence a new 11-year media rights deal with the NBA next season that will include distribution of 80 regular-season games per year, including more than 20 games on ABC. Moreover, the ABC broadcast network will continue carrying the NBA Finals, while Disney-owned networks telecast approximately 18 games in the first two rounds of the playoffs and one of the two Conference Finals for 10 of 11 years under the deal. Games airing on ABC and ESPN will also be available on the forthcoming Flagship direct-to-consumer streaming service. Disney is reportedly paying the league $2.62 billion per year for this new rights deal, which also includes packages of WNBA and NBA G League regular-season and postseason games.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
