5.6 Million NBC Viewers, a 10-Year Record
The NBA tip-off this year was a big win not only for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors but also for NBC and Peacock. The broadcast of the first NBA games since 2002 drew in a strong audience of 5.6 million average viewers on Tuesday night.
This number, based on data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, marks an 87% increase from last year’s NBA tip-off on TNT, which had 3 million viewers. It is also the highest viewership for a doubleheader in over a decade. The last time a season opener reached this level was in 2012, or 2010 if we exclude the unusual Christmas Day tip-off in 2011. It’s worth noting that the 2010 games featured LeBron James’ debut with the Miami Heat, making NBC’s telecast this year even more impressive.
The average of 5.6 million viewers represents the number of people watching at any given moment during the broadcast. The peak viewership of 7.1 million came between 10:45 and 11 p.m. ET during the Thunder’s one-point double-overtime victory against the Houston Rockets. This game, which also marked Kevin Durant’s debut with the Rockets, garnered an average of 5.9 million viewers. The Warriors-Lakers game, on the other hand, averaged 5.1 million viewers.
In addition to the television audience, NBC Sports saw its largest non-NFL and non-Olympics simulstream audience ever with an average minute audience of 1 million viewers across Peacock and NBC Sports Digital.
Overall, the return of NBA games on NBC and Peacock was a huge success, drawing in a significant number of viewers and setting a new benchmark for viewership in recent years. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the NBA season unfolds and if this momentum can be sustained throughout the year.
