Name: Report: TV ratings for NBA return down from pre-hiatus nosedive | Sports Illustrated Cleveland Cavs News, Analysis and More
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Report: TV ratings for NBA return down from pre-hiatus nosedive | Sports Illustrated Cleveland Cavs News, Analysis and More

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When you visit our site, we use services provided by Tempest, a product of Say Media, Inc., for content delivery and ad selection, including personalised digital ads. Say Media and its partners use technology such as cookies to customise your site experience, analyse website traffic, deliver content, and measure the effectiveness of advertisements.By continuing to use this site, you consent to the use of cookies. To learn more about cookies and how to disable them, view our .By clicking I Agree on this screen you agree that Say Media and its partners may process your personal data for the purposes of information storage and access; personalisation; ad selection, delivery, and reporting; content selection, delivery and reporting; and measurement. For more information please view our .I AGREENBA television ratings for the league's return in Orlando are lower than when the league went on hiatus in March, according to .Ratings were already suffering before the NBA suspended the season, with reporting in February that national television viewership had nosedived 12 percent since the end of the season, compared to 2018-19.Worse, ratings for ABC broadcasts in 2019-20 averaged 2.95 million viewers, compared to 5.42 million during the lockout season of 2011-12, . That represents a drop of 45 percent.Along with that, , TNT's average viewership is down 40 percent since 2011-12, with ESPN experiencing a decline of about 20 percent in that same time frame.Other sports, such as the NFL and MLB, reportedly have seen viewership increase or hold steady during the same span.That's not the only reason for concern, ."While it’s easy to cite 'cord cutting' as a catch-all explanation for what’s going on, keep in mind, Nielsen ratings do incorporate streaming services, albeit imperfectly," . "While some offer theories of pirated games, there just isn’t much evidence that a massive population engages in that, at least not at the scale that would explain this big a drop."The NBA's national television contract expires soon, and at $2.6 billion, remains the league's largest stream of revenue. Lower ratings could impact those earnings when it's time to negotiate another TV deal.NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed the sagging TV ratings in December.“I’m not surprised that our ratings are down thus far,” . “I’m not concerned, either. In terms of every other key indicator that we look at that measures the popularity of the league, we’re up."Along with that, the NBA wasn't necessarily expecting a large TV turnout for games being played in August, many of which are being broadcast during weekday afternoons.Through Aug. 9, regular-season "seeding" games on ESPN were averaging 1.39 million viewers, which was 34 percent larger than the numbers being produced by Major League Baseball games on ESPN (1.03 million).Also, the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets on Aug. 6 averaged 1.6 million viewers on TNT -- larger than the MLB games on FOX and the PGA Championship on ESPN.Still, that this has been a "ratings disaster of a season, with the NBA’s most-watched game of last week trailing golf, NASCAR and wrestling. This, despite an incredible run of exciting games in Orlando. So far, the NBA built it but very few came."The NBA playoffs began Monday on the Disney campus.

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Report: TV ratings for NBA return down from pre-hiatus nosedive | Sports Illustrated Cleveland Cavs News, Analysis and More

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