The quality of NBA postseason games may not be the best this year, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t watching. Viewership for the 2017 NBA Playoffs on ESPN and ABC is up five percent from last year. So far, the average viewership this season is at 4.376 million as compared to 4.176 million.
As for streaming, ESPN says the online audience has set a record for average minute streaming. On WatchESPN, the games drew an average of 112,000 viewers and that’s up 24% from last season.
And this postseason gave ABC its most-watched opening weekend game, Game 1 of the Golden State Warriors-Portland Trail Blazers series that had a combined TV and streaming audience of 6.6 million viewers.
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TNT’s ratings has also seen an uptick thanks to the playoffs and its numbers have won primetime in cable.
And that gives ABC some momentum going into the Finals starting on June 1.
In addition to the ratings, once again, ABC will air Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night before each NBA Finals game in primetime on the East Coast and it will after the game on the West Coast. Some of his guests will include Kevin Hart, Will Ferrell, Robert Downey, Jr., and noted NBA fan Billy Crystal.
[ESPN]