Coming off the best Christmas performance in cable history, TNT's NBA momentum continued Tuesday night with a doubleheader featuring three of the league's top clubs.
The drama network's Dec. 27 coverage of the Miami Heat's victory over the Boston Celtics netted a 3.2 U.S. household rating in metered markets, according to Nielsen data. That was followed by a 2.5 metered market rating for its telecast of the Los Angeles Lakers' victory over the Utah Jazz.
On the night, TNT averaged a 2.9 U.S. metered market mark from 8:16 p.m. to 1:24 a.m.
While subject to final national tallies, the Dec. 27 doubleheader is well ahead of the 1.6 national rating TNT averaged with its 2010-11 NBA regular-season coverage.
TNT opened the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season with a 3.4 national rating and 5.9 million viewers for its presentation of the New York Knicks' 106-104 win over the Celtics in the noon window on Christmas. That was cable's highest NBA Dec. 25 delivery ever and fourth best in the medium's history for a regular-season telecast.
