An all-time blowout in the NBA Finals helped ABC blow away the competition last week.
The Celtics’ 131-92 win in Game 6 of the NBA Finals was easily the highest rated, most watched event on television last week, finishing with a 10.7/19 rating and 16.9 million viewers. The Celtics’ coronation finished well ahead of the next most watched program, America’s Got Talent, which drew a 7.8 with 12.8 million viewers on NBC.
How important was the NBA Finals to ABC? The next most watched program on the network last week was The Bachelorette, which drew a 4.9 rating and 7.0 million viewers. Only three programs on ABC, including the NBA Finals, finished with at least six million viewers.
Overall, the six games of the NBA Finals account for the six most watched programs in the month of June, if one does not isolate the race portion of The Belmont Stakes (9.0 rating with 14.6 million viewers). The last two games of the series were two of the ten highest rated non-NFL sporting events since last June.
Highest rated sporting events since June ’07.
*excluding the NFL
14.4/22: BCS Nat’l Championship Game, LSU def. Ohio St. (Mon., 1/8/08 8 PM FOX)
12.6/21: World Series Game 4, Red Sox def. Rockies (Sun., 10/28/07, 8 PM FOX)
12.1/20: NCAAB Nat’l Championship Gm., KU def. Memphis (Mon., 4/7/08, 9 PM CBS)
11.7/18: ALCS Game 7, Red Sox def. Cleveland (Sun., 10/21/07, 8 PM FOX)
11.1: Rose Bowl, USC def. Illinois (Tue., 1/1/08, 5 PM ABC)
11.1/18: World Series Game 2, Red Sox def. Rockies (Thu., 10/25/07, 8 PM FOX)
10.7/19: NBA Finals Game 6, Celtics def. Lakers (Tue., 6/17/08, 9 PM ABC)
10.5/18: World Series Game 1, Red Sox def. Rockies (Wed., 10/24/07, 8 PM FOX)
10.2/20: Daytona 500 on FOX (Sun., 2/17/08, 2 PM FOX)
10.2/19: NBA Finals Game 5, Lakers def. Celtics (Sun., 6/15/08, 9 PM ABC)
