The final telecast of the NBA All-Star Game on TNT Sports amid the final year of its media rights deal with the NBA drew a significantly lower audience than the game last year, according to early reports. The league implementing a new format this season to draw more competitiveness to the game from the players involved replaced the traditional East vs. West matchup with a four-team, single-elimination tournament.
The Sunday night broadcast reportedly averaged 4.72 million viewers across TNT, TBS and truTV, down 13% from last year’s mark of 5.398 million viewers but up 3% from the all-time low of 4.59 million in 2023. The game broadcast also finished first on the night for Men under 50 and in the 18-34 demographic.
The peak of viewership was measured at 4.99 million in the 9:30 – 9:45 p.m. EST quarter-hour which delivered the fourth-largest audience of the NBA season, only trailing the three Christmas Day games televised on the ESPN networks.
The annual exhibition had some stiff competition this year, as NBC aired its 50th Anniversary Special celebrating Saturday Night Live on the same night, which drew a massive 14.8 million viewers across NBC and Peacock streaming platform. The All-Star main event also followed a weather-delayed Daytona 500 broadcast on FOX Sports earlier in the afternoon which averaged 6.93 million viewers.
The NBA All-Star Game format has been the target of much scrutiny in the days following the contest with players and media alike sharing their criticisms of the new format. The largest critique of the contest surrounding the amount of actual basketball being played versus stoppages for commercials, musical performances, and other moments where the flow of the game was heavily affected for the players and the viewing public.
Digitally the league saw NBA All-Star content throughout the weekend amassing a record 4.7 billion views, which is up 12% year-over-year according to data from Videocites. The weekend festivities also drove signups for NBA League Pass to increase 56% from the previous year.
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