Viewership for the NBA’s Christmas Day slate was up 5% from last season, with the five games averaging a 1.8 rating with 4.31 million viewers.
The Bucks-Celtics matchup recorded the highest viewership in the day with 6.08 million viewers and a 2.25 rating. Viewership was up 17% from last year’s equivalent game, with the Celtics win also representing the first time since 1995 that the most-watched Christmas Day did not feature Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or LeBron James.
Three out of the five games registered a double-digit increase in viewership. The Grizzlies-Warriors and Lakers-Mavs were both down in ratings from their equivalent time slots last season.
With an average of 1.9 and 4.07 million viewers, the Sixers-Knicks was the most-watched Noon ET Christmas Day game since 2011.
The Suns-Nuggets was also the most-watched late-night Christmas game since 2015.