NBA All-Star Ratings Climb With New Format

The All-Star Weekend ratings climbed with the new format.

Per Hollywood Reporter, Sunday’s game — which featured tributes to the late Kobe Bryant and changes to the game’s format to up the competitive factor — averaged 7.3 million viewers on TNT and TBS, an 8 percent improvement on the 6.8 million who watched the 2019 contest.

The weekend’s other events also saw small ratings upticks. TNT’s All-Star Saturday Night, including the slam dunk contest and three-point shooting contest, drew 5.1 million viewers, up from 5.02 million in 2019. Friday’s celebrity game on ESPN rose 9 percent to 1.45 million viewers, and the Rising Stars Challenge on TNT Friday ticked up 1 percent to 1.48 million viewers.