ESPN Sees Highest Ever Viewership for NBA

ESPN’s coverage of the 2008-09 NBA regular season demonstrated impressive audience growth across multimedia platforms, including a 16 percent increase in viewership on ABC (an average of 3,684,000 viewers for 18 broadcasts this season; 3,175,000 for 19 broadcasts last year).   The 2008-09 regular season is the most-viewed on ABC in the previous six years. ABC’s average of 2,688,000 households this season marked a 10 percent improvement when compared to 2,451,000 last year.  The 2.3 average rating in 2008-09 was an increase of five percent over a 2.2 rating in 2007-08.  Additionally, the network enjoyed double-digit growth in all major demos: Up 12 percent among men 18-49;Up 11 percent among men 18-34;Up 11 percent among men 25-54; Up 17 percent among people 18-34;Up 17 percent among people 18-49;Up 15 percent among people 25-54. ESPN averaged 1,680,000 viewers for 71 regular-season tel...