For its 15 game regular season, ABC averaged a 3.3 rating and 5.4 million viewers. All this despite a lockout that shortened the regular season by a month. It’s as if the lockout never happened.
The average rating is up 10% from last season and viewership is up 6% and gives the network some momentum as it readies to carry selected playoff games and all of the NBA Finals.
Here’s the press release from ESPN in regards to ABC’s NBA ratings.
ABC Delivers Highest-Rated & Most-Viewed NBA Season Ever
ABC delivered its highest-rated and most-viewed NBA regular season ever, averaging a 3.3 household rating and 5,421,000 viewers for its 15 broadcasts during the 2011-2012 campaign, according to Nielsen.
The 3.3 rating is up 10 percent from last season (3.0) and 5,421,000 viewers is up six percent from last season (5,110,000). The NBA on ABC is also up nine percent in household impressions, averaging 3,831,000 compared to 3,519,000 last season.
ESPN will televise its final two NBA games of the regular season on Wednesday, April 25, with a doubleheader beginning at 8 p.m. ET when the New York Knicks host the Los Angeles Clippers. In the nightcap, the Phoenix Suns will visit the San Antonio Spurs at 10:30 p.m.
The 2012 NBA Playoffs begin on ESPN and ABC on Saturday, April 28, and culminate with The Finals on ABC in June.
That is all.
