NBA TV Ratings Soar

While the NFL gets socked with ratings declines, the NBA is off to its second-most watched season ever, reports The NYPost.

ESPN, which has telecast 30 games since the season’s Oct. 17 opener, said Thursday that average viewership has soared 18 percent, to 1.8 million a game, from this point last year.

TNT, with 16 NBA telecasts to date, said its average is up 25 percent, to 2.1 million viewers. Even NBA TV, with 41 telecasts, is up 25 percent, to 365,000.

The averages, taken collectively, make for the hottest start since the 2010-11 season — the year LeBron James abandoned the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat.

Central to the NBA’s rise is its success in focusing the league’s many dramas on the game itself — an area where the NFL has failed miserably, experts say.

“NBA stars don’t wear helmets, so fans think they know them better by watching their features and their gestures,” said Ben Sturner, president of sports-marketer Leverage Agency. “This sense of familiarity plays really well with the social media set.”

Meanwhile, the NFL is being penalized for a lack of focus, according to Sturner.

Its story lines these days encompass a panoramic sweep of protest rights, brain-damage risks, squabbling owners, media oversaturation, even subpar play.