ESPN tips off its NBA Finals coverage tonight (June 6) on ABC with hopes that the Boston Celtics-Dallas Mavericks title matchup will attract both hardcore and casual hoops fans.

The league enters the finals after overall NBA playoffs ratings dropped 11% to 4.10 million viewers across ABC, ESPN TNT and NBA TV compared to last year, according to Nielsen numbers supplied by SportsMedia Watch. 

Despite declining NBA playoff ratings, ESPN VP of acquisitions Matt Kenny believes that the Celtics-Mavericks matchup is a marquee battle between two teams with several superstars: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown of the Celtics and Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving of the Mavericks. 

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“We couldn’t be happier with the storylines that have presented themselves for the finals,” Kenny said. “Obviously, Boston has been tremendous for several years now, and then you had an incredible playoff run by the Dallas Mavericks. We think the Celtics and Mavericks are going to be a lot of fun for fans.”

ABC will look to top the 11.64 million viewers generated by last year’s NBA Finals, in which the Denver Nuggets beat the Miami Heat in five games. Kenny says with both teams taking different paths to get to the NBA Finals — the Celtics were prohibitive favorites to win the Eastern Conference. while the Mavericks were mostly underdogs in the West — the series offers a contrasting scenario for viewers. 

“We always like to say that fans are very smart, and opportunities like this where you have genuine heat and genuine star power on a national stage should generate genuine interest in the series,” Kenny said. 

Headlining a new Finals announcing team for ABC is veteran play-by-play announcer Mike Breen along with two new analysts, J.J. Redick and Doris Burke, the first woman to announce an NBA Finals on television. Burke, who has announced the NBA Finals on ESPN Radio since 2020, said the appeal of young players like the Celtics’ Tatum and the Mavs’ Doncic should draw fans to the series.

“I don’t know what the ratings are going to say,” Burke said earlier this week during an NBA Finals conference call. “I can only tell you that I could not be more excited that two young stars are on the stage with an opportunity to grow viewership.”

ESPN will offer NBA fans an extra gift on Christmas Day by simulcasting all five games of the league’s traditional holiday schedule on both ABC and the cable network.

The move marks the first time the five games will appear on both The Walt Disney Co.-owned networks in the 21-year history of the programming stunt, with the first game beginning at noon Eastern Time and the last game tipping off at 10:30 pm., said ESPN officials. Last year ABC and ESPN both aired three of five games, with ESPN airing the early afternoon and late night contests. 

Overall, ESPN and ABC averaged 4.1 million viewers for its five-game NBA Christmas Day lineup last year up against stiff competition from NFL games, the lowest audience since the league began its five-game schedule in 2008, according to Sports Business Journal.

“NBA on Christmas is one of the best holiday traditions in sports, and this is a great example of how we view programming more holistically than ever before,” ESPN VP of programming and acquisitions Matt Kenny told Multichannel News. “This is a natural extension of how we continue to optimize platforms across The Walt Disney Co. to better serve fans.”

ESPN and ABC’s Christmas schedule begins with Philadelphia 76ers-New York Knicks at noon (ET), followed by Los Angeles Lakers-Dallas Mavericks at 2:30 p.m.; Milwaukee Bucks-Boston Celtics at 5 p.m.; Memphis Grizzlies-Golden State Warriors at 8 p.m.; and Phoenix Suns-Denver Nuggets at 10:30 p.m. 

“We are thrilled that ABC and ESPN will simulcast all five games on Christmas Day, which is one of the marquee days on the NBA calendar,” NBA president of content and executive producer Gregg Winik said. 

This Christmas Day, the NBA games will compete with three regular-season NFL games on NBC, CBS and Fox, including a primetime matchup on NBC between Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Arizona Cardinals. The NBA is well-positioned to draw in its share of fans on the holiday, Kenny said. 

“There’s never been more competition in the marketplace, whether it's Christmas or otherwise, so we’re really focused on doing the absolute best we can to serve NBA fans on Christmas Day and throughout the season,” he said. ■  

After two games of the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors are knotted up at one win apiece. But for the entire playoffs, the Celtics actually remain ahead by minutes watched on TV.

Below, we utilize glass-level insights from Vizio’s Inscape, including a panel of more than 19 million active and opted-in smart TVs, to quantify the NBA playoffs on TV through game two of the finals.

• As mentioned, the Celtics have led the way, accounting for 30.38% of playoff minutes watched so far. While part of that lead comes from playing in the NBA Finals, Boston also benefits from playing in seven-game series in both the Eastern Conference Finals (against the Miami Heat) and semifinals (against the Milwaukee Bucks), which naturally boosts watch-time.
• The Warriors are second, at 28.63% of minutes watched due in part to playing in fewer games in the playoffs (18, versus 20 for the Celtics). Golden State won the Western Conference Finals in five games over the Dallas Mavericks, though that series was also well-watched with four of the top 10 games by share of playoff watch-time.
• Trailing the Celtics and Warriors were the Mavericks (21.45% of minutes watched), Heat (19.42%) and the Phoenix Suns (15.67%). Dallas and Miami both played in the conference finals, so more games by default. The Suns, on the other hand, were knocked out in the Western Conference Semifinals but were also the league’s best team this year, so had plenty of eyeballs on them from game-to-game.
• Boston’s lead will continue to extend throughout the NBA Finals now, as they’ll be involved in all remaining games. Despite a lopsided game two win for the Warriors on Sunday, the contest accounted for 3.10% of all NBA playoffs watch-time – slightly more than game one’s share of minutes watched (3.00%). However, game one has also drawn the largest share of the NBA playoffs TV audience, with 27.20% of viewers.
• The two NBA Finals games so far are the most-watched games of the NBA playoffs so far. Boston’s game seven win over the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals is No. 3 at 2.04% of watch-time, and the Celtics game seven win over the Bucks before that is No. 4 at 1.93%. Golden State’s game one matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference Semifinals is a surprising No. 5, with 1.90% of watch-time.
• Among some of the other interesting insights when looking at the NBA playoff audience data: The Toronto Raptors struggled to draw stateside viewers with three of the bottom five games by minutes watched (though, notably, all of those appeared on NBA TV instead of ABC/ESPN/TNT). Of the six play-in games before the full tournament field was set this year, April 15’s matchup between the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers accounted for the largest share of playoff minutes watched, with 0.77%.
• The largest TV markets also failed to factor into much of this year’s audience picture, with both the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks missing the playoffs, the Los Angeles Clippers falling in the play-in games, and the Brooklyn Nets being swept in the first round. Having a well-watched playoff despite New York and L.A.’s relative absence is a positive sign for the league as it eyes its next TV deal.

ESPN AND TNT will tip off their respective National Basketball Association regular-season coverage expecting to build on their ratings performances from last year, despite an earlier tip-off to the campaign.

The season kicks off Oct. 17 — two weeks earlier than usual — in an effort to better schedule games to limit player fatigue and injuries during the season. TNT will offer an opening night doubleheader showcasing the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Boston Celtics along with the Houston Rockets battling last year’s champion, the Golden State Warriors.

The games are part of TNT’s 67-game regular-season NBA schedule, which also features a Christmas Night telecast, its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day tripleheader and its 20-game Tuesday night “Players Only” lineup of games featuring former basketball players in all broadcast roles, according to network officials.

ESPN will begin its 87-game NBA coverage Oct. 18 with a Philadelphia 76ers-Washington Wizards/Minnesota Timberwolves-San Antonio Spurs doubleheader. Combined with sister network ABC’s broadcast schedule, the two Disney-owned networks will offer a company record 104 NBA regular season games.

ESPN executive VP of programming and scheduling Burke Magnus said the network is bullish on the upcoming season, given the number of off-season moves by top teams and players as well as the emergence of a strong crop of rookies.

He also expects that ESPN will surpass the 1.6 million viewers it generated last season despite the early start.

“We’ve been pushing for our efforts around the NBA to be year-round, and with our coverage of the past off-season the league had, in terms of free agent movements, a draft class that hasn’t been seen in many years, the season starting now seems about right to me,” he said.

Boston Celtics great Kevin McHale is returning to Turner Sports as an NBA analyst.

He has struck a multi-year deal for TNT game telecasts and analysis on NBA TV's Fan Night.

McHale was with Turner in 2009-2011 before exiting to coach the Houston Rockets and work in the NBA front office. He was a guest analyst on TNT's NBA playoff coverage last season.

“Kevin is one of the most respected basketball minds in the history of the game and we’re thrilled to welcome him back to the Turner family,” said Albert “Scooter” Vertino, GM of NBA Digital and SVP of programming for Turner Sports.

McHale teamed with Larry Bird and Robert Parish in the Celtic's front court, recording three NBA championships. His jersey was retired in 1994.

Still disconnected from Dish Network in a carriage dispute and with the Boston Celtics set to open their 2014-15 NBA season on Wednesday night, Comcast SportsNet New England has launched a radio campaign aimed at turning up fan heat on the DBS provider.

CSN New England, the regional sports network home to the Celtics, said it has secured radio schedules within the Boston DMA and throughout its six-state TV territory that urge listeners that reach out to Dish and demand that the provider restore the service, or switch to providers that carry the channel. Boston opens its season at home against Brooklyn on Oct. 29.

The RSN has been dark to Dish Network subscribers since Aug. 6. The carriage contract between the RSN and the No. 2 DBS provider expired on June 30, but there were a series of subsequent extensions.

The RSN counts some 4 million subs throughout New England, mainly via Comcast and DirecTV, which are battling in bankruptcy court over the fate of another sports network, CSN Houston.

Noting that all other providers are carrying the RSN, CSN New England officials said negotiations with Dish continue, and it hopes that the No. 2 satellite provider will agree to terms. Dish is also out of contract with a number of Turner Broadcasting System-owned services.

“We are disappointed that Dish has dropped Comcast SportsNet New England and continue negotiations in hopes that they will provide the region’s passionate fans with access to Comcast SportsNet's exclusive Patriots coverage and live Celtics games in advance of the NBA's regular season,” said the RSN in a statement. “We encourage Dish customers to contact Dish directly by calling 1-800-823-4929, or switch to another provider.”  

On Tuesday, Dish officials offered no additional comment, but reissued the statement it released in August: "Comcast Sportsnet New England wants to put a double-digit rate increase on the backs of consumers for a channel that has seen viewership drop over 40 percent since 2011. Dish is committed to providing high-quality sports programming at an appropriate value. We urge Comcast Sportsnet New England to work with Dish to strike that balance."

The radio spot, which is airing on Boston’s WEEI, WZLX and The Sports Hub, and in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, shoots with hoops parlance in an attempt to press Dish.

The copy, pointing out that team is back on the RSN, says in part that “if you’re a Dish subscriber, they’ve boxed you out. That means no [point guard Rajon] Rondo, no Celtics. Dish has dropped CSN New England. To get it back, call 1-800-823-4929 and demand Dish restore your Celtics coverage.”

The message then moves toward a switch assist, noting that DirecTV, Charter, Cox, Verizon FiOS, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and other local provider all carry Comcast SportsNet.