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Add another honor to Michael Jordan’s trophy case. According to ESPN, The Last Dance was a massive hit with viewers, bringing in an average audience of 6.1 million for each episode broadcast. Ratings for The Last Dance Episodes 1 and 2 rival that of every ESPN documentary ever, the largest since 2004.
Per ESPN, the 6.1 million average was for airings on ESPN and ESPN2 over the hours of 9-11pm ET; with 5.7 million watching Episode 1 on ESPN, 5 million for Episode 2. The West Coast re-airings weren’t too shabby either with an average of 794,000 additional viewers.
As sports remain suspended and fans’ cabin fever worsens, it’s no surprise that The Last Dance ratings were out of this world. In order to capitalize on viewers’ stir-craziness, ESPN pushed up The Last Dance release date to April 19. The docuseries was originally scheduled to air in June, after the NBA Finals concluded, but as the novel coronavirus outbreak continues, it seems unlikely that the postseason will be played at all.
ESPN’s The Last Dance tracks Michael Jordan’s decade-plus career with the Chicago Bulls, which culminated in the dynasty’s sixth NBA championship during the 1997-1998 season. With an all-star lineup led by Jordan, Scottie Pippin, and coach Phil Jackson, the Chicago Bulls dominated the league in the 1990s, winning six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998 with two three-peats.
The 1997-1998 season, which many referred to as the team’s “Last Dance” (hence the docuseries’ title), was marked by behind-the-scenes tension, but the players were able to put it behind them to achieve a stellar regular season record of 62-20.
New episodes of The Last Dance will air every Sunday at 9/8c on ESPN and ESPN 2. The network plans to air two episodes every week, and all will be available to stream with a cable log-in on the ESPN App, ESPN.com, and ESPN on Demand immediately following each episode’s linear premiere. Viewers outside the U.S. will be able to watch The Last Dance on Netflix at 12:01 a.m. PT the morning after episodes air on TV.
