2023 NBA Playoffs Were the Most Watched Postseason in 5 Yrs Averaging 5.47M Viewers

According to reports, the 2023 NBA postseason was the most watched in 5 years with an average of 5.47 million viewers.

NBA Communications tallied the viewership numbers across ESPN, ABC, and TNT to land on the 5.47 million figure. While a number of factors contributed to the boost in viewership, major market teams managed to make considerably deep runs from the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, and Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference and the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference.

The NBA Finals didn’t fair as well with two smaller market teams competing for the championship. The Denver x Miami series averaged 11.65 million viewers, “which according to Anthony Crupi of Sportico made it the ‘fifth least-watched Finals of the modern Nielsen era, which kicked off with the introduction of the portable people meter in 1987. Disregarding the asterisk-laden 2020 and 2021 Finals series, Miami-Denver only managed to top the San Antonio Spurs’ sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007 (9.29 million viewers) and the little-seen Spurs-New Jersey Nets pairing in 2003 (9.86 million)’.”