It’s time to take stock also on the side of TV audiences at the end of this 2022/23 season completed by the coronation of the Nuggets, who have become the fifth different NBA franchise to win the Larry O’Brien trophy over the past five years. .
To start on a positive note, the NBA was pleased that these 2023 playoffs were the most watched since 2018 with 5.47 million viewers on average via ABC, ESPN and TNT. The league’s social networks also ran at full speed with a total of 8 billion videos viewed on its platforms, a new record.
The worst ratings since 2007
The shoe pinches a little on the other hand with regard to the figures on these NBA Finals. Although it ended well with Game 5 reaching 13.08 million viewers (peaking at 17.83 million), which is better than last season’s Game 5 between Boston and Golden State (13. 03 million), the five games between Miami and Denver attracted “only” 11.6 million viewers on average.
That is a decrease of 6% compared to the Finals of last year (12.40 million). On average, ABC has a 6% market share, which allows it to rank number 1 in the United States every game night.
If we exclude the two finals of 2020 and 2021 in a Covid context, this remains the worst audience for the Finals since the 2007 series between San Antonio and Cleveland, which crowned Tony Parker as MVP (9.29 million).
source : SportsMediaWatch
