NBA's Return to NBC is a Ratings Slam Dunk

The NBA's opening night return to NBC was a massive success, pulling in 5.6 million viewers for its doubleheader—an 87% surge over last year and the league’s best season debut in over a decade.

• Drama from the jump: The night kicked off with a thriller, as the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets battled into double overtime. That matchup drew 5.9 million viewers and peaked at 7.1 million during its final minutes. The nightcap between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers kept the momentum, drawing another 5.1 million viewers.

• A strategic slam dunk: The broadcast was the first under the NBA's new 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal, and marked NBC's first time airing a game since the 2002 Finals. The numbers back up the NBA's bet on broadcast, a clear departure from years of cable-only season openers.

• The digital assist: The digital play also paid off. NBC's streaming simulcast on Peacock pulled in an additional 1.0 million viewers, a performance that set a new record for any event on the platform that wasn't the NFL or the Olympics, according to Variety.

The strong debut gives the NBA and NBC major momentum to start their new media rights era, validating a strategy that bets on the combined power of broadcast reach and streaming growth.

• Also on our radar: The strong ratings provided a dose of good news for a league that began its season under the cloud of an off-court gambling investigation. The viewership jump was also boosted by Nielsen’s new "Big Data" measurement system, which has inflated sports ratings across the board. Next, NBC will test its streaming-only strategy with the debut of its exclusive "Peacock NBA Monday" doubleheader.