The Western Conference showdown between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets on the most-recent edition of ESPN NBA Saturday Primetime averaged 2.87 million viewers on ABC, rendering it the most-watched program of the night on television, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. This matchup, which featured superstars LeBron James, Nikola Jokić and Luka Dončić, peaked with 3.35 million viewers at 10:45 p.m. EST and, as a whole, was up 29% from the comparable matchup last season between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks.
The Celtics and Knicks met the next day as part of the doubleheader NBA Sunday Showcase on ABC and averaged 2.24 million viewers, representative of a 37% year-over-year improvement over last year’s game in this window between the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers. The strongest viewership for the weekend slate of games took place on Sunday afternoon when the Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors matchup averaged 2.9 million viewers on ABC, a 29% year-over-year rise. All three of these games ended with large deficits between both teams, but it still led to auspicious results for The Walt Disney Company as it prepares to commence a new 11-year media rights deal with the NBA next season.
Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch reported that ABC has been responsible for 11 of the 13 most-watched NBA games this season, with the other two games airing as part of the Opening Night doubleheader on TNT. Lewis also added that the Lakers have played in five of the 12 most-watched games in the league this season, which is more than any other team in the league.
Earlier in the season, ESPN also enjoyed its highest viewership on Christmas Day in five years, collecting an 87% year-over-year increase with an average of 5.25 million viewers across the five-game slate. Entering the second half of the regular-season schedule, national television viewership on ESPN and TNT platforms was down 5% from the previous year, according to Nielsen data cited by Colin Salao of Front Office Sports. Viewership for games on ESPN platforms was stated as being “essentially flat” compared to the previous year.
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