While the Celtics popped champagne and Boston fans celebrated their team’s 18th NBA championship, our team at Roku was busy crunching the numbers on viewership, demographics, and advertiser reach.
In this latest edition of our Stream of Thought series, we share four upshots from Roku’s viewership data, along with actionable steps advertisers can take to amplify their campaigns.
1. Traditional TV viewership declined as streaming soared.
Traditional TV viewership for the NBA Finals decreased across all demographics.¹ The decline in the number of adults watching on linear TV, compared to the 2023 Finals, is estimated to surpass 2.5 million — a 4.8% drop. The downward trend was most pronounced among men aged 18 to 49, whose fall-off outpaced the overall adult average by 24%. By contrast, NBA Finals reach on Roku increased 6.4% year-over-year and streaming hours grew 29%.²
The Roku POV: Sports viewership continues to shift to TV streaming — from Thursday Night Football on Amazon to MLB baseball on The Roku Channel and Peacock to Roku’s NBA Zone, which grew 48% month-over-month from April to May 2024.
2. Younger viewers spearhead streaming growth.
The largest year-over-year increase in streaming hours on Roku came from viewers aged 18-24 (up 28%) followed by those aged 25-34 (up 20%). Additionally, Black and Asian households each streamed over 20% more hours of the Finals than in 2023. Households with high purchasing power also saw big increases, with those earning above $100,000 and $200,000 annually both up nearly 20%.³
The Roku POV: To reach younger audiences, consider shifting ad budgets to streaming TV. Many young adults have cut the cord with cable or never had it in the first place. One way to reach young basketball fans is through NBA FAST, a Free Ad-Supported TV channel now exclusively available on Roku. It gives advertisers a prime opportunity to reach a growing segment of cord-cutting sports fans unreachable through linear TV.
3. Traditional advertisers likely failed to reach new audiences.
The NBA Finals on linear TV predominantly attracted existing NBA fans. In fact, 59% of the time spent watching the NBA Finals on traditional TV was from the top 20% of regular-season NBA viewers.⁴
The Roku POV: Brands advertising on linear are reaching the same audiences they did throughout the season. To reach net-new viewers, consider leveraging streaming platforms for more innovative ad formats and precise targeting.
4. Entertainment brands gained the bulk of traditional ad impressions.
The average NBA Finals viewer saw 59 distinct ads on linear TV, with entertainment brands gaining nearly one in four impressions and averaging 19 ads per household. Among advertisers, YouTube TV reached the most viewers on traditional TV, followed by State Farm, Wingstop, Columbia Pictures, and Hulu.⁵
The Roku POV: In a crowded category, consider placing ads on streaming platforms after the game around related content such as recaps and sports talk shows.
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¹ Roku ACR Data, 2024
²⁻⁵ Roku Internal Data, 2024
