So far, so good for the NBA’s new set of media rights deals.
This season, the league began its new 11-year broadcast deals with Amazon, ESPN, and NBC. The agreements have completely shaken up how fans consume NBA games on a nightly basis, with viewers adapting to two brand new partners to go along with the incumbent, ESPN.
Through the first month of the season, the transition has worked out tremendously from a viewership perspective. According to a report from Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch on Thursday, NBA viewership increased by 30% during the first month of the season compared to the first month of last season. NBA games are averaging 1.91 million viewers across ESPN, NBC, and Prime Video, the highest figure the NBA has seen through one month since 2017.
When one includes games on NBA TV, the year-over-year increase rises to 52%. However, NBA TV is airing fewer games this season, making for a more favorable comparison given the lesser-watched nature of those games.
The main factor likely driving the increase is the NBA’s expanded reach via NBC. Each week, the NBA is getting a primetime weeknight window on broadcast television. Last year, the NBA’s standard Tuesday and Thursday weeknight windows aired on TNT, a cable channel.
Early returns suggest that the audience difference between NBC and TNT is sizeable. Per Lewis, last week’s regionalized NBC window, which featured Celtics-76ers on the East Coast and Nuggets-Kings on the West Coast, averaged 2.9 million viewers between NBC and Peacock. The comparable TNT window last year drew 2.14 million viewers for Mavericks-Warriors and 1.71 million for Knicks-76ers.
It’s difficult to compare the two nights. For one, NBC is airing different games depending on where a viewer lives, then combining that viewership figure into one number. TNT, on the other hand, aired both games no matter where a viewer lived. Second, NBC and TNT measure streaming viewership differently, with NBC using Adobe Analytics and TNT using Nielsen, muddying comparisons even further.
Still, it’s hard to argue with the magnitude of increases across the board. Prime Video’s Warriors-Spurs game last Friday averaged 1.43 million viewers, up 40% from a Grizzlies-Warriors game on ESPN last year (1.03 million viewers). Prime Video got off to a strong start earlier this season, out-rating the year-ago number on ESPN by 13% during its first-ever broadcast.
Of course, the recent Nielsen changes also play a role in year-over-year comparisons. The company’s new “Big Data + Panel” methodology and the expansion of out-of-home viewing measurements both serve to increase the top-line number for live sporting events. Still, those changes cannot fully explain the magnitude of growth the NBA has seen in its first month.
Clearly, viewers are adapting quickly to the new normal, which should be encouraging for the NBA.