ESPN and TNT Sports are betting that an NBA playoffs mix of new entrants and traditional powerhouses will help drive viewership of the league’s postseason games.
Following this week’s play-in tournament, the next phase of the NBA postseason tips off this weekend with all 16 playoff teams playing across TNT, ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. Sports programmers point to the infusion of new teams such as the Oklahoma City Thunder — the top seed in the Western Conference — as well as the Eastern Conference qualifiers Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers, as an opportunity to draw in new viewers while increasing the interest for hard-core fans.
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“The teams that are supposed to be in the playoffs are there, and it should be really competitive,” Warner Bros. Discovery Sports chief content officer Craig Barry said. “It’s great to see new teams like the Orlando Magic start to rise up and to see teams like the New York Knicks back in the playoffs, while still having the defending champion Denver in the mix as the team to beat. It’s great that the league continues to evolve and become more competitive.”
ESPN head of event and studio production Dave Roberts also said the lineup of playoff teams offers viewers new faces and competitive matchups, particularly in the Western Conference.
“What’s great about this is you have a host of new stars coming aboard, whether it's Oklahoma City and Minnesota Timberwolves, and of course the Lakers are right there as well,” Roberts said during a recent ESPN NBA Playoffs media conference call.
The NBA is hoping to top last year’s playoffs audience of 5.4 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and TNT, which was the most-watched playoffs in five years, according to the league.
The league is coming off two straight nights of double-digit ratings increases for the play-in tournament. TNT’s Tuesday night coverage of the Los Angeles Lakers-New Orleans Pelicans and Golden State Warriors-Sacramento Kings telecasts averaged 3.98 million viewers across TNT and TruTV, up 37% from the 2023 play-in games, according to Sports Media Watch.
Wednesday’s Miami Heat-Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks-Chicago Bulls games on ESPN averaged 3.25 million viewers, up 25% from last year’s play-in games, according to Sports Media Watch.
WBD’s Barry said TNT Sports is up to the task of educating viewers on the new playoff entrants throughout its coverage of the postseason. “We’re in the business of storytelling, so this is an opportunity to tell some fresh stories about some of these teams that are coming into the playoffs,” he said. “We spend so much time talking about the Celtics, Lakers and Warriors, so for our guys it’s a fresh take for them because some of these teams don’t appear on our air too often. This is a great opportunity to breathe in some fresh air with our coverage and watch these very talented teams compete.”
