After magical ratings for the first five games, the Eastern Conference Finals fell back towards earth on Saturday night.
Cavaliers/Magic Game 6 drew a 5.2 U.S. rating and 8.3 million viewers according to Nielsen Fast Nationals, up 21% in ratings and 29% in viewers from a 4.3 and 6.4 million for Celtics/Pistons Game 6 on ESPN last year. Last year’s Lakers/Spurs series, which aired on TNT, did not go to a sixth game.
The 8.3 million viewers is the lowest for the Cavaliers/Magic series since Game 2, and marks the third-lowest total of the series. Games 3, 4 and 5 each topped 9 million viewers, with Game 4 drawing a series-high 10.1 million. Still, the 8.3 million viewers is still more than any Conference Final game had drawn in the previous three years.
The 2009 Eastern Conference Finals averaged a 5.4 U.S. rating and 8.6 million viewers on TNT, up 29% in ratings and 37% in viewers from a 4.2 and 6.3 million for last year’s Lakers/Spurs West Finals, also on TNT. Compared to last year’s Pistons/Celtics East Finals, Magic/Cavaliers was up 35% and 46%, respectively, from a 4.0 and 5.9 million for six games on ESPN and ABC.
Magic/Cavaliers finishes as TNT’s highest rated Conference Final ever, topping the previous high of 5.1 for Lakers/Timberwolves in ’04, and the highest rated Eastern Conference Finals since 76ers/Bucks in ’01, which went seven games.
Additionally, the Eastern Conference Finals on TNT outdrew last year’s Rays/Red Sox ALCS on TBS by 15% in both ratings and viewers (5.4 and 8.6 million to 4.7 and 7.5 million).
Source: Turner Sports
