ESPN's NBA Audience Up Across Various Platforms

June 3, 2008 -- ESPN’s NBA coverage has generated audience growth across the company’s multimedia platforms, including significant improvements in television viewership and online traffic during the NBA Playoffs.

ESPN – NBA Playoffs through Eastern Conference Finals

* ESPN’s coverage of the 2008 NBA Playoffs ranks as the network’s most-viewed ever (3,149,000 households; previous high – 2,994,000 households in 2006);
* The 3,149,000 households for 21 telecasts marks an increase of 41 percent when compared to 2,239,000 households last year (17 telecasts);
* The corresponding 3.3 rating is up 38 percent over the 2.4 rating in 2007.

ABC – NBA Playoffs through Eastern Conference Finals

* 10 NBA Playoff broadcasts are averaging 4,191,000 households, marking a 29 percent increase compared to 3,255,000 households last postseason (10 broadcasts);
* ABC’s 3.7 rating is up 28 percent over the 2.9 rating last year.

ESPN – Eastern Conference Finals

* ESPN’s Eastern Conference Finals coverage between the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons is the network’s most-viewed Conference Finals ever (4,552,000 households; previous high – 4,352,000 in 2006, Detroit/Miami);
* The 4,552,000 households (five telecasts) are up 53 percent over last year’s 2,983,000 households (three telecasts);
* ESPN’s 4.7 rating is an increase of 47 percent over the 3.2 rating last year.

ABC – Eastern Conference Finals

* The Eastern Conference Finals on ABC averaged 4,171,000 households (one broadcast), an improvement of 21 percent compared to 3,450,000 households (two broadcasts);
* The 3.7 rating is up 19 percent over the 3.1 rating last postseason.

Additional examples of audience growth include:

ESPN.com

* Visits to the site’s NBA content during the Conference Finals were up 53 percent compared to last year;
* Unique users to NBA content during the Conference Finals were up 45 percent;
* During the entire NBA Playoffs, visits to NBA content are up 57 percent;
* Season-to-date, visits to NBA content are up 54 percent.

Additional ESPN.com statistics

* During the Conference Finals:
o ESPN.com’s Daily Dime has generated more than three million page views;
o ESPN.com’s TrueHoop has generated more than one-and-a-half million page views;
* During the post-season, the Daily Dime has had more than nine million page views;
* This season, ESPN.com Video has received more than 100 million views for NBA-related content (through the end of April).

ESPN360.com

* Broadband network ESPN360.com provided live coverage of 101 NBA games this season including, for the first time, 29 in high definition streaming;
* Fans watching NBA Playoff games on ESPN360.com averaged 60-plus minutes of time spent viewing, more than 20 times the average time spent viewing online video (comScore Media Metrix average is less than three minutes per stream).

ESPN Mobile

* 26 million NBA mobile alerts – text and video – have been sent to fans his season.

Source: ESPN