The opening week of the NBA regular season started strong but fell off during Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night national windows. After TNT increased its opening night viewership by 6% year-over-year on Tuesday, the rest of the week’s NBA windows saw declines. ESPN’s opening doubleheader on Wednesday averaged 1.6 million viewers, down 42% from the network’s opening games in 2023 that featured the rookie debut of San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama. The comparison to 2022 looks more favorable, with viewership up 5% without the Wemby factor. The Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers opened ESPN’s 2024 season with 1.71 million viewers, down from 2.55 million viewers for the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks in 2023. The Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers drew 1.52 million viewers, down 49% from last year’s comparable game.