NBA's National Networks Score Second Best Regular Season

The NBA and its national TV partners enter the 2013 playoffs coming off the second-most-watched full regular season.

Trailing only the 2010-11 season, TNT's 2012-13 campaign stands as the second-best over the course of its 29-year relationship with the pro hoops league, while ABC and ESPN netted their second-best season since they began airing game action in 2002-03. The just-completed season caps off a decade of viewership growth, with average audience up 37% to 2.17 million from 1.58 million, according to NBA officials.

For its part, NBA TV recorded its most-watched full regular season, averaging 336,000 viewers for its 98-game slate, a 33% jump from the 253,000 in 2010-11. Results were buoyed by four of its top five game telecasts, respective audience increases of 87% and 17% for original shows Open Court and The Association, and the most-viewed season ever for studio show NBA GameTime. NBA TV's median age viewer is 35.1, the youngest of any sports network.