What are the TV ratings for the 2023-2024 NBA season?

The NBA national network’s viewership remained constant, while the regional networks’ audience increased by 8% from the 2022-23 campaign, the best figure since 2018-2019. This increase happened as a few teams experienced major changes in their distribution this season following Diamond Sports Group’s bankruptcy.

The measurements cover teams in 25 NBA markets, except the Raptors, Hornets, and Grizzlies. Viewership among 12-17-year-olds increased by 13%. This season, 17 teams saw an increase, while 10 saw a decrease in viewership.

Ratings by teams

The reigning champion Nuggets saw the most significant gain among all teams (+123%), even as the regional sports network Kroenke Sports-owned Altitude - continues to face distribution issues in the Denver market. Already a five-season impasse between Altitude and Comcast has left an estimated 57% of Denver without access to Nuggets telecasts since September 2019.

One of the most surprising regional network performances was from the Minnesota Timberwolves, who saw a 111% jump on Bally Sports North this season. Figures show that the NBA club was taking the audience away from the Wild (the NHL club was down 14% in the Twin Cities this season).

The Jazz and the Suns switched to over-the-air options for their broadcasts after their local networks collapsed. This move helped the Jazz increase their “local” ratings by 39% and expand to as many as 6.3 million viewers. They parted with AT&T SportsNet and added coverage beyond Utah into all of Idaho and Montana, and parts of Oregon, Wyoming, and Washington. The Suns, now on America’s Family/Gray TV, also saw an increase of 69% in their ratings.

Other impressive gains came from the Magic, up 52% on Bally Sports Florida for the team’s best figure since 2015-16, as well as the Knicks (up 10% on MSG Networks).

Several teams have work to do next season to bring back fans. The Trail Blazers saw the sharpest drop among teams, down 60% in Portland following the loss of star Damian Lillard in the offseason and the start of a rebuild. The Nets also struggled this season on YES Network, down 41% without a stable of stars to bring in fans.

The Wizards struggled with a 37% drop in performance, but it was discovered a coding issue impacted the audience for NBA and NHL games. This issue may have affected up to 25% of subscribers through Verizon Fios. After the error was corrected, the Wizards closed the season strong with a 29% increase in audiences from March to April. Monumental Sports introduced a new streaming platform for fans, and this season marked the re-launch of Monumental Sports Network, which made significant investments in production and other areas for the future.

The Bulls were down 17% even with a late push to the Play-In Tournament. Similarly, the Warriors were down 14% as that club went no further than the Play-In Tournament. However, even with a 14% drop, the Warriors remained the number-one team in the league in terms of local rating.