TNT’s Exclusive Coverage of NBA Opening Night Propels Network to Win the Night Across All of Cable Television in Primetime

Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Averages 5.6 Million Viewers, Up 95%;
TNT’s Second Most-Watched Opening Night Game of All Time

NBA Opening Night Scores Huge Double-Digit Increases Across All Turner Platforms

TNT’s exclusive coverage of 2017 NBA Opening Night – the Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors – led the network to win the night across all of cable television in primetime, based on metered market delivery.  The network’s Celtics/Cavs telecast averaged 5.6 million total viewers – up 95% over last year – to rank as the network’s second most-watched Opening Night telecast of all time.  Last night’s Celtics/Cavs game is TNT’s fifth most-viewed regular season NBA telecast ever.

Overall, TNT’s NBA Opening Night doubleheader averaged 4.9 million viewers for an increase of 53% over the comparable games last year. Last night’s doubleheader netted the network’s most-watched NBA Opening Night coverage since 2010.

Additional highlights include:

Doubleheader Garners Double-Digit Growth Across All Demos
TNT’s NBA Opening Night doubleheader delivered significant audience increases across all core demos including 53% increase in People 18-49 and growth of 47% in People 18-34 and 44% in Men 18-34.

Celtics/Cavs Peaks with 6.7 Million Viewers
TNT’s Celtics/Cavs telecast peaked with an average of 6.7 million viewers from 10:15-10:30 p.m. ET.  Top local markets included Cleveland (20.1 HH rating), Columbus, Ohio (8.3 HH rating) and Boston (7.8 HH rating).

Rockets/Warriors Viewership Up 22% vs. 2016
TNT’s Rockets/Warriors telecast averaged 4.2 million viewers, up 22% over the network’s comparable game last year. Locally, the game earned a 14.8 HH rating in San Francisco as the top-ranked metered market.

Inside the NBA Post-Game Show Up 20%
TNT’s award-winning Inside the NBA studio show averaged a 1.2 HH rating from 1:30-2:30 a.m. ET, up 20% over the network’s comparable telecast last year based on metered market ratings.

Turner’s TV Everywhere Platforms Up 43%
Live streaming coverage of NBA Opening Night averaged 8.9 million minutes of consumption, up 43% over last year.  The Celtics/Cavs game registered the largest streaming average audience ever for an NBA regular season game on Turner.

NBA Opening Night Generates 53 Million Social Impressions
Opening night content across Turner’s Facebook and Twitter accounts netted 53 million social impressions and six million video views including 250,000 views for live streaming coverage of the Warrior’s ring ceremony on Facebook.

Source: Linear-Nielsen Fast National data for 10/17/2017 compared to historical NBA on TNT Regular Season telecasts. Live +SD Data. Online TVE Live Stream Starts-Users by Quarter Hour (rounded based on actual game time) from Omniture SiteCatalyst; Mobile TVE Live Stream Starts, Users based on Virtual Heartbeat from Omniture. Connected Devices are provided by Omniture Virtual Heartbeat. Total TV Minutes are based on Nielsen Live + SD with a 1 min qualifier.

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