After finishing at No. 11 in the Western Conference standings (41-41) in the 2023-24 season, the Houston Rockets rose to No. 2 (52-30) in 2024-25.
Fans have noticed, and it’s reflected in the regional sports network (RSN) viewing data — and especially when viewed in the context of broader NBA trends.
Advertisement
According to Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal (SBJ), linear viewership for local NBA broadcasts dropped 9% this past regular season. However, eight of the league’s 30 franchises did have year-on-year improvements, and the Rockets were among the top five.
According to the Nielsen data, only eight NBA teams had linear year-over-year household increases this season. The top five in gains were the Cavaliers, Trail Blazers, Celtics, Rockets, and Pistons to go with a bottom five of the 76ers, Bulls, Suns, Jazz and Heat. The main takeaway, considering NBA Commissioner Adam Silver recently said local game broadcasts were almost “trapped” by cable, is that three of those top five teams (the Cavs, Celtics, and Pistons) ended the season with their RSNs on a cable tier, while two of the bottom five were on free, over-the-air channels (the Suns and Jazz), offering evidence that on-court performance still drives ratings — regardless of ease-of-access.
“Local ratings are very much driven by which teams that year exceeded expectations and had all the casual fans come in to join the ride,” said Gregg Liebman, head of research at Playfly Sports, when asked to assess the data. “More so than the national networks’ games, which are driven by star power.”
That’s good news for Space City Home Network (SCHN), Houston’s regional broadcast partner that is now jointly owned by the Rockets and Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros. Better yet, because the Rockets advanced to the 2025 NBA playoffs, SCHN will also reap the rewards of broadcasting nearly the entire first-round series versus the Golden State Warriors. (Starting in 2025-26, that will change, with all playoff broadcasts becoming national exclusives.)
But even in playoff games where SCHN does not have regional television broadcast rights, such as games aired exclusively on ABC and any games in the second round and beyond, the network can still run live pregame and/or postgame coverage. Considering the rising interest from fans in and around the Houston market, that’s probably a wise investment, as is gathering exclusive behind-the-scenes and interview-based content to help fill those programming windows.
Advertisement
A decisive Game 7 of the first-round series between the Rockets and Warriors is Sunday night — and because the national broadcast partner is TNT, there will also be a SCHN broadcast, as well. For fans of the Rockets, it’s the last opportunity this season to hear in-game coverage from the likes of play-by-play broadcaster Craig Ackerman, analyst Ryan Hollins, and sideline reporter Vanessa Richardson.
But if the ratings are any indication, fans will be ready and eager to return when the 2025-26 season begins in the fall. Many are also likely to check out any supplemental coverage in the weeks ahead, should the Rockets win Game 7 and advance deeper into the playoffs.
More: Space City Home Network to offer local playoff broadcasts for Rockets-Warriors series
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: As team improves, Rockets among NBA leaders in TV ratings growth