NBA Playoffs: Final Rating For ABC’s Heat/Knicks Game 4 Hits Eight-Year High

Viewership actually declined for Sunday’s Game 4 of the Heat/Knicks series, but ratings for the game hit an eight-year high.

Game 4 of the Heat/Knicks NBA playoff series drew a 4.5 final rating and 7.013 million viewers on ABC Sunday afternoon, up 7% in ratings and down slightly in viewership compared to Celtics/Knicks Game 4 last year (4.2, 7.020M), and up 22% and 23%, respectively, from Cavaliers/Bulls Game 4 in 2010 (3.7, 5.704M).

The 4.5 rating is the highest for a first round NBA playoff telecast on ABC since 2004 (LAL/HOU G4: 4.8), and the fourth-highest since the network resumed airing games in the 2002-03 season.

The game also ranks as the second-most viewed first round NBA playoff telecast on ABC since the 2002-03 season, behind only Celtics/Knicks last year.

With that said, Game 4 was the only game of the Heat/Knicks series to have a decline in viewership.

Earlier Sunday, Game 4 between the Bulls and Sixers drew a 2.8 final rating and 4.224 million viewers — down 10% in ratings and 16% in viewership from Heat/Sixers Game 4 last year (3.1, 5.025M), but up 8% in both measures compared to Celtics/Heat Game 4 in 2010 (2.6, 3.913M).

Through four telecasts, ratings for the 2012 NBA Playoffs on ABC are down 3% from last year, but up 14% from 2010.

Most-Viewed First Round NBA Playoff Games on ABC
Since resuming NBA coverage in the 2002-03 season

(Sunday’s numbers from ESPN)