or


[01/26/16 - 08:54 AM]
NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC: Most-Watched Non-Christmas Game of Regular-Season Across Nets
ESPN spins the numbers for Saturday, January 23.
[via press release from ESPN]

NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC Debut: Most-Watched, Highest-Rated Non-Christmas Game of Regular-Season Across All Nets

Won the Night Across Prime-Time Television in All Key Adult and Male Demos

The debut edition of NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC presented by La Quinta (Jan. 23) delivered the most-watched and highest-rated non-Christmas game of the regular season across all networks, according Nielsen. The broadcast, which saw the Chicago Bulls defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-83, averaged nearly four million viewers (3,916,000, p2+), peaking with 4,534,000 viewers (p2+) from 10:45-11 p.m. ET. It generated a 2.4 U.S. household rating.

NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC propelled the network to win the night across prime-time broadcast and cable television on Saturday in all key adult and male demos, including 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54.

NBA Countdown, which preceded the game at 8 p.m., averaged 2,437,000 viewers (p2+) and a 1.6 U.S. household rating. In both metrics this is the best for a regular-season, non-Christmas NBA Countdown show since March 11, 2012.

Looking ahead

ESPN will generally televise NBA games across four days per week for the majority of the regular season. Here's the upcoming schedule, which includes details about this week's edition of NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC: the San Antonio Spurs and Tim Duncan visit the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James at 8:30 p.m.

Date Time (ET) Telecast/Commentators Network (s)

Wed., Jan. 27 7:30 p.m. NBA Countdown charged by Mountain Dew Doris Burke, Jalen Rose, Chauncey Billups ESPN, WatchESPN 8 p.m. Houston Rockets at San Antonio Spurs presented by State Farm Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Israel Gutierrez ESPN, WatchESPN 10:30 p.m. Dallas Mavericks at Golden State Warriors presented by State Farm Dave Pasch, Jon Barry, J.A. Adande ESPN, WatchESPN

Fri., Jan 29 1:30 a.m. NBA Tonight Doug Kezirian, Tim Legler ESPN2, WatchESPN 8 p.m. NBA Coast to Coast Doug Kezirian, Brad Daugherty, Amin Elhassan, Ryen Russillo, J.A. Adande ESPN2, WatchESPN

Sat., Jan 30 1 a.m. NBA Tonight Doug Kezirian, Brad Daugherty ESPN2, WatchESPN 8 p.m. NBA Countdown presented by Straight Talk Wireless Sage Steele, Doug Collins, Jalen Rose ABC, WatchESPN 8:30 p.m. San Antonio Spurs at Cleveland Cavaliers presented by La Quinta Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, Heather Cox Radio: Marc Kestecher, Jon Barry ABC, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio, WatchESPN

Sun., Jan 31 12:30 a.m. NBA Tonight Doug Kezirian, Ryen Russillo ESPN2, WatchESPN 3 p.m. NBA Countdown presented by Straight Talk Wireless Sage Steele, Doug Collins, Jalen Rose ABC, WatchESPN 3:30 p.m. Chicago Bulls at Los Angeles Clippers presented by BBVA Dave Pasch, Hubie Brown, Chris Broussard Radio: Kevin Calabro, P.J. Carlesimo, Stephen A. Smith ABC, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio, WatchESPN





  [january 2016]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
     


· NBA SATURDAY PRIMETIME ON ABC (ABC)




most recent ratings | view all posts
[08/01/25 - 01:56 PM]
Matt Damon and Ken Jennings' Million Dollar Win Scores Big in Ratings for "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"
The series owns ABC's top two entertainment telecasts in Total Viewers summer to date with its week 2 episode (4.46 million) and season premiere (4.24 million).

[08/01/25 - 10:15 AM]
"Big Brother" Watched by Nearly 26 Million Unique Viewers
On Paramount+, the series ranks as the #1 unscripted program and #7 program overall in reach and total time spent since its July 10 premiere.
[07/30/25 - 04:01 PM]
"South Park" Season 27 Premiere Surges with Nearly 6M Cross-Platform Viewers and Biggest Share in Over 25 Years
Tune-in tonight, July 30, for an encore airing of the premiere episode, "Sermon on the 'Mount," with a new episode airing Wednesday, August 6 at 10 p.m. ET on Comedy Central and next day on Paramount+.
[07/30/25 - 03:06 PM]
"Christmas in July" Gifts Hallmark Channel #1 Most-Watched Entertainment Cable Network of the Month
The network's first-ever limited docuseries "Christmas at Sea" was the #2 most-watched entertainment cable program in its time period on Mondays among Women 18+.
[07/29/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of July 21: "Happy Gilmore 2" Finds Its Happy Place at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Mystery thriller "Untamed" spent another week at No. 1 on the English TV List.
[07/29/25 - 11:46 AM]
ABC Airs Another of Its Most-Watched WNBA Games Ever: Indiana Fever vs Chicago Sky Averaged 1.5 Million Viewers, Up 17% from Last Year's ABC Average
Said audience peaked with 1.7 million viewers.
[07/28/25 - 12:03 PM]
"The Summer I Turned Pretty" Season 3 Draws 25 Million Viewers in Its First 7 Days and Reaches #1 in Over 120 Countries
The show of summer is "Summer."
[07/25/25 - 02:51 PM]
ABC Summer Game Shows "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and "Match Game" Return for New Seasons with Multi-Year Highs
"Millionaire" returned for a new season as the No. 1 telecast of the night among Total Viewers (4.24 million), earning its most-watched telecast in over four years.
[07/25/25 - 08:59 AM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Grows for the Second Week in a Row in Total Viewers and Households
On Tuesday (7/8/25), featuring Jensen Ackles, "Live with Kelly and Mark" turned in its most-watched telecast (2.285 million) in nearly two months.
[07/22/25 - 03:03 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Adults 18-49, Leading CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in the Demo for the 6th Consecutive Week
"Nightline" posted week-to-week increases in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, hitting a 4-week high in the key Adult news demo.
[07/22/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of July 14: "Untamed" Hunts and "KPop Demon Hunters" Slay in This Week's Top 10
True crime lovers also made their voices heard - documentary series "Amy Bradley Is Missing" appeared at No. 2 on the English TV list, with 12.2 million views.
[07/22/25 - 10:30 AM]
2025 NBA Las Vegas Summer League Viewership Up Double Digits
Said telecasts averaged an audience of 255,000 viewers, up 27% from last year.
[07/22/25 - 08:04 AM]
ESPN, ABC and Disney+ Score Historic Viewership for 2025 WNBA All-Star Events
The Skills Challenge & 3-Point Contest and the WNBA All-Star Game averaged 1.3 million viewers and 2.2 million viewers, respectively.
[07/21/25 - 10:09 AM]
ESPN's Outstanding Nielsen Viewership for First Six Months of 2025: At the Halfway Mark, ESPN has Achieved Multiple Successes Across the Board
ESPN on its own is up 4% year-over-year across the entire day (24 hours of programming) and up 9% when isolating the primetime hours (8-11 p.m. ET).
[07/17/25 - 01:31 PM]
Netflix: What We Watched the First Half of 2025
This report, which captures ~99% of all viewing in the first half of 2025, shows that people watched a lot of Netflix - over 95B hours - spanning a wide range of genres and languages.