The Philippine Basketball Association is heading into its Philippine Cup Finals buoyed by soaring numbers from its new carrier, RPTV Channel 9, as well as figures representing viewers on the league’s other platforms.
“We are very grateful yung mga manonood natin ay patuloy tayong sinusundan, at nadagdagan pa sila noong mga nakatutok sa atin sa RPTV, sa ating carrying cable network at sa social media,” said PBA commissioner Willie Marcial.
“Nakakataba ng puso, and this will definitely inspire us all the more to bring the best games possible especially as we near the league’s 50th season,” Marcial added.
The league’s top honcho expressed heartfelt thanks to PBA fans after receiving reports of an average reach of 1.2 million viewers per game in the initial months of RPTV’s broadcast.
This is in addition to the millions more attracted by PBA games on Cignal TV’s Rush channel and streaming networks, Smart Livestream and Pilipinas Live.
Game 5 of the Barangay Ginebra-Meralco semifinal showdown on RPTV drew a rating of 3.1% on NUTAM and 2.6% on PHINTAM, peaking at 3.9%—about 2.8 million viewers—towards the end of the 4th quarter. The just-concluded Game 7, eventually won by Meralco, drew 2.4 million viewers.
Starting to broadcast the PBA games early this year, RPTV achieved its highest rating from the March 10 game between Barangay Ginebra and Phoenix Super LPG. The Kings defeated the Fuel Masters, 102-92, in that contest.