High Scoring First-Round NBA Playoff Games Drive Increases in Viewership and Attendance

High Scoring First-Round NBA Playoff Games Drive Increases in Viewership and Attendance

First Round Attracts Over 100 Million Viewers and Features Most Arena Sellouts in History

NEW YORK, May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Driven by high-scoring games and competitive series, the First Round of the 2005 NBA Playoffs was watched by 101.9 million viewers on ABC, TNT, ESPN and ESPN2 -- up 2.3 million viewers from last year's first round coverage and saw arenas packed to capacity with 40 of 43 First Round games sold out, the most in NBA history.

With scoring up 10.5 points per game compared to last season's final postseason average, First Round coverage on TNT (25 games) and ESPN (9 games) posted increases in viewers per game for both networks. TNT is up 6% to 2.72 million viewers vs. 2.57 million in 2004, and ESPN is up 1% to 2.44 million vs. 2.42 million in 2004 while household ratings were up 4% for TNT (2.4 vs. 2.3 in 2004) and even on ESPN (2.1 vs. 2.1 in 2004) compared to the First Round of the 2004 playoffs.

The playoffs propelled TNT to rank as the #1 cable network in primetime among households for May sweeps to date.

ABC Sports' three (3) First Round telecasts were off in household ratings compared to two First Round games in 2004 playoffs (2.7 vs. 4.0), with the decline attributable to the absence of the Lakers in the postseason.

NBA First Round playoff games accounted for the highest rated primetime cable programs in 6 of the 10 nights that they aired during May sweeps. TNT and ESPN also ranked #1 in primetime among the key male 18-34 and 18-49 audiences for 9 of the first 10 nights of May sweeps. Powered by the NBA Playoffs, TNT won 7 of the nights, and ESPN won 2 of the nights.

The NBA set the all-time record for number of First Round playoff sell-outs during the 2005 NBA Playoffs with 40 out of the 43 games played sell-outs. This surpassed the previous recorded mark of 31 First Round sell-outs established during the 2003 NBA Playoffs. Competitive series drove the First Round average attendance to 19,293, the highest average since the First Round of the 2001 NBA Playoffs (19,839), surpassing last year's First Round average of 18,848 by 2.36% for the 39 First Round games in 2004.

Source: NBA

CONTACT: Mike Bass, NBA, +1-212-407-8769 or mbass@nba.com

Web site: http://www.nba.com/

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