Watch this!

Carried by LeBron, NBA Draft ratings hit six-year high

NEW YORK (AP) -- With LeBron James taking center stage, TV ratings for the NBA draft were the highest since 1997.

ESPN's broadcast Thursday night drew a 2.64 rating, a 27.5 percent increase from last year's 2.07 rating on TNT. This was the first year ESPN broadcast the NBA draft.

About 2.3 million households tuned into the telecast, making it the most-watched NBA draft since 1996. That was an increase of 28.1 percent from last year's household count of about 1.8 million.

James, the high school phenom from Akron, Ohio, went to the Cleveland Cavaliers with the first overall pick.

 

Related information

Stories

Top 10 draft busts of all time David Vecsey: LeBron needs to show there's more than glitz to his game Cavaliers inaugurate James era with first pick Kansas' senior duo goes in lottery As expected, Pistons draft Darko with second pick Nuggets get Syracuse star Anthony with third pick LeBron era begins for Cavs Hollinger: NBA Draft best and worst Stewart Mandel: 'Duke curse' not going away Marty Burns grades the NBA Draft

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video