Heat vs. Lakers: ABC's Largest Audience for Non-Christmas Regular Season NBA Game

ABC's broadcast of the Miami Heat vs. the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, March 4, was the network's most-viewed non-Christmas Day regular season NBA game ever. The broadcast averaged 7,037,000 viewers (P2+), according to Nielsen. The audience is based on a 4.3 rating, which matches ABC's highest-rated non-Christmas Day regular season NBA game ever (Boston vs. L.A. Lakers - Jan. 30, 2011).

The audience for Sunday's game was up 37% over the 5,120,000 viewers - based on a 3.2 rating - for last season's comparable game (L.A. Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs). In addition, the game posted a 13.9 rating in Miami - the market's second highest regular season NBA game on ABC - and a 9.6 rating in Los Angeles.