Boosted by the much ballyhooed matchup of the Miami Heat visiting the
Los Angeles Lakers, ABC and ESPN netted their highest cumulative NBA
average on Christmas Day over five games.
The contest -- which tipped off at 5 p.m. (ET) on ABC and showcased the new-look Heat, featuring LeBron James and Chris Bosh joining Dwayne Wade,
who combined to trounce the two-time defending champion Lakers --
averaged a 6.4 national rating, the network's highest rating for an ABC
regular-season game since Christmas 2004 (a 7.3 for Heat-Lakers).
Saturday's contest topped the 4.4 rating for last season's Christmas
contest in the window, Lakers-Cleveland Cavaliers, by 45%, according to
Nielsen.
Posting a 4.6 national rating with the Orlando Magic
ending the Boston Celtics 14-game winning streak in the 2:30 p.m.
window, ABC averaged a 5.5 mark for its doubleheader. This year's
Magic-Celtics contest outperformed the same teams' matchup on Christmas
2009, which scored a 3.3 average, by 39%.
Click here to read the full article on Multichannel.com.
