Has The NBA’s In-Season Tournament Paid Off? These TV Ratings Suggest Yes—Probably.
The post Has The NBA’s In-Season Tournament Paid Off? These TV Ratings Suggest Yes—Probably. appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Topline NBA viewership has climbed in recent weeks as the league’s inaugural In-Season Tournament comes to a close, a much-needed boost for the NBA, which opened the tournament last month in an effort to increase TV ratings and drive ticket sales in the early-season doldrums of the regular season following a year of faltering viewership. NBA TV ratings have inched up in recent weeks. Getty Images Key Facts Roughly 2 million people tuned in on national TV for a tournament game last week between the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors, marking a 93% increase over a game in a “comparable window” last season, and the most-watched tournament game so far, according to the league (teams have played a combination of tournament and standard games in recent weeks, with the top eight teams in tournament matches moving on to a single-elimination bracket this week). That Kings-Warriors game narrowly edged out the 1.9 million people who tuned in for a Warriors match on November 22 against the Phoenix Suns on ESPN, but more decisively beat the 1.4 million who watched the Boston Celtics take on the Milwaukee Bucks on the same day on ESPN, neither of which counted toward the tournament, according to data from Nielsen. Tournament games on ESPN and TNT averaged 1.5 million viewers, a 26% increase from games played during the same time last year, while locally broadcast games are up 20% from last November, the NBA said. During the month of November, ESPN averaged 1.52 million viewers per game while TNT averaged 1.43 million, increases of 20% and 16%, respectively, over the same time last year, CNN reported—though the NBA’s early-season audience is still a tiny fraction of the NFL, which regularly draws upwards of 15 million viewers to its marquee Sunday night games. However, fans are…
The post Has The NBA’s In-Season Tournament Paid Off? These TV Ratings Suggest Yes—Probably. appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Topline NBA viewership has climbed in recent weeks as the league’s inaugural In-Season Tournament comes to a close, a much-needed boost for the NBA, which opened the tournament last month in an effort to increase TV ratings and drive ticket sales in the early-season doldrums of the regular season following a year of faltering viewership. NBA TV ratings have inched up in recent weeks. Getty Images Key Facts Roughly 2 million people tuned in on national TV for a tournament game last week between the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors, marking a 93% increase over a game in a “comparable window” last season, and the most-watched tournament game so far, according to the league (teams have played a combination of tournament and standard games in recent weeks, with the top eight teams in tournament matches moving on to a single-elimination bracket this week). That Kings-Warriors game narrowly edged out the 1.9 million people who tuned in for a Warriors match on November 22 against the Phoenix Suns on ESPN, but more decisively beat the 1.4 million who watched the Boston Celtics take on the Milwaukee Bucks on the same day on ESPN, neither of which counted toward the tournament, according to data from Nielsen. Tournament games on ESPN and TNT averaged 1.5 million viewers, a 26% increase from games played during the same time last year, while locally broadcast games are up 20% from last November, the NBA said. During the month of November, ESPN averaged 1.52 million viewers per game while TNT averaged 1.43 million, increases of 20% and 16%, respectively, over the same time last year, CNN reported—though the NBA’s early-season audience is still a tiny fraction of the NFL, which regularly draws upwards of 15 million viewers to its marquee Sunday night games. However, fans are…
What's Your Reaction?
