Despite Cooper Flagg boost, 2025 NBA Draft first-round viewership down 14.5%
The first half-hour of the draft broadcast was up four percent from last year, thanks to the Cooper Flagg Effect.
The first half-hour of the draft broadcast was up four percent from last year, thanks to the Cooper Flagg Effect.
"We heard an awful lot about small markets, Mike, ratings, etc. This has been an absolute privilege of a series to be involved with."
The Thunder's win averaged 9.54 million viewers on ABC, down 22% versus last year's Game 5.
The game peaked with more than 11 million viewers during Indiana's late comeback, which could bode well for Game 2.
"Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals flopped in the ratings."
Viewership is up 2% versus the same point last year.
"Local ratings are very much driven by which teams that year exceeded expectations and had all the casual fans come in to join the ride."
Viewership for the eight games across ABC, ESPN, TNT, and truTV averaged 4.39 million viewers.
"There were a bunch of factors I think that led to our ratings being down early on."
Teams like the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat saw declines of over 50%.
National NBA viewership is down just 2% versus last season across ABC, ESPN, and TNT.
The audience peaked at 2.79 million viewers.
The Trail Blazers set an all-time franchise margin of victory record Saturday, but are far from the only team putting up lopsided results.
Dan Le Batard was apoplectic over the sky is falling narrative about NBA ratings because the league just cashed in on huge TV deals.
"They clearly don't care about rest or player health; it's just ratings — and all that stuff."
The league's viewership is down 5% year-over-year, but was down 19% earlier this season.
Watching Luka Dončić and LeBron James figuring it out on the fly will be fascinating.
"Part of what I think we can do better is not just tell the larger stories about player's and their lives and off-the-floor and all that, but the nitty gritty."
The two conference-leading squads will meet again next Thursday, January 16.