The Lakers and Knicks both having high lottery picks was a good thing for ESPN, and the NBA draft. ESPN via press release, is reporting that Thursdays NBA draft was the most watched telecast in history.
The 2015 NBA Draft was the most-watched NBA Draft telecast in history, according to Nielsen. Thursday’s telecast on ESPN averaged 3,738,000 viewers (P2+), up eight percent from the 2014 NBA Draft. The telecast peaked with 5,131,000 viewers from 8-8:15 p.m. ET.
The 2015 NBA Draft was also the highest-rated ever on ESPN, averaging a 2.4 U.S. household rating. This is up four percent from last year’s event. The telecast peaked from 8-8:15 p.m. ET with a 3.3 rating.
Last night’s telecast also propelled ESPN to win the night across all of television (broadcast and cable) in several key demos, including P18-34, M18-34, P18-49, M18-49 and M25-54.
The Lakers being non-committal on the No. 2 pick helped, as did the yearly draft plight of the 76ers. Knicks fans tuned in large numbers as well, with the reaction translating to social media.