NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA says its three national TV partners all had their most viewers ever this season, topped by a 42 percent increase for TNT.
ABC was up 38 percent and ESPN had a 28 percent jump, the league says Friday.
Turner Sports also says its 1.6 rating was its highest in 27 years of NBA coverage and that it televised three of the five most-watched NBA regular-season games ever on cable this season.
Despite fears of a labor stoppage after the season, the NBA reported success across many platforms. Arena capacity was 90.3 percent, its seventh straight year of 90 or better, and the 17,306 average was up 1 percent from last year and was its fifth highest.
Merchandise sales jumped more than 20 percent and NBA.com saw an increase of more than 140 percent in video views.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.