Turner Sports’ exclusive coverage of the newly formatted 69th NBA All-Star Game delivered an average of 7.3 million viewers across TNT and TBS, up 8% over last year.
With a thrilling finish – with Team LeBron defeating Team Giannis, 157-155, the ratings peaked during the commercial-free fourth quarter with an average of eight million total viewers from 11:15-11:30 p.m. ET.
Pre-game coverage on TNT (8-8:30 p.m.), with tributes to Kobe Bryant, averaged 6.3 million viewers for an increase of 19% over last year.
TNT’s coverage of Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game led the network to win the night in prime-time and netted the top program across all of cable television. The previous evening, TNT’s coverage of State Farm All-Star Saturday Night also scored the top program of the night and propelled TNT into the top spot in prime.
Overall, TNT garnered a 15% viewership increase for its combined All-Star coverage – the NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Saturday Night and Friday’s Rising Stars game. All-Star Saturday Night netted TNT’s most-watched coverage of the event since 2017, while the Rising Stars competition was the network’s best since 2015.
Additionally, Bleacher Report recorded more than an 80% rise in social engagements across all platforms. Social content published across @NBAonTNT and @NBATV accounts throughout NBA All-Star weekend generated increases of 44% in video views, 33% in impressions and 26% in engagements.
Nielsen Media Research, based on Live + SD fast nationals for 2/16/2020, compared historically to similar telecasts on TNT. Desktop, Mobile and Connected Device TVE live stream starts and consumption minutes from Conviva; Users based on 1 minute qualifier per VHL. Total TV Minutes are based on Nielsen Live + SD 1 min qualifier.