NBA sees early playoff ratings boost, driven by over-the-air games
We are a week and a half into the NBA playoffs, and the league continues to see strong viewership numbers. Through 27 telecasts, the 2026 NBA playoffs are the most viewed since 1993. As of Sunday, the NBA is averaging 3.
84 million viewers for first-round playoff games on ABC, NBC, ESPN, and Prime Video. That’s…
Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images We are a week and a half into the NBA playoffs, and the league continues to see strong viewership numbers. Through 27 telecasts, the 2026 NBA playoffs are the most viewed since 1993. As of Sunday, the NBA is averaging 3.
84 million viewers for first-round playoff games on ABC, NBC, ESPN, and Prime Video. That’s up 7% from games on ABC, ESPN, and TNT in the same period last year (3. 61 million).
The increase is 2% when including last year’s games on NBA TV (3. 20 million). This viewership average does not include games on NBCSN and Peacock, which are not Nielsen-rated.