Though well below the finale of last year’s Bulls/Celtics series, the opener between the Celtics and Cavaliers drew strong numbers on TNT Saturday.
The Cavaliers’ Game 1 win over the Celtics drew a 3.4 U.S. rating and 5.7 million viewers on TNT Saturday night, down 23% in ratings and 18% in viewership from Bulls/Celtics Game 7 last year (4.4, 7.0 mil), but up 79% and 105%, respectively, from Magic/Pistons Game 1 in ’08 (1.9, 2.8 mil).
Celtics/Cavaliers Game 1 ranks as the most-viewed game of the playoffs on broadcast or cable, edging Cavaliers/Bulls Game 4 on ABC (5,705 million to 5,704 million).
Additionally, the game was the most-viewed program of the week on cable. NBA games took up four of the top ten spots.
The strong start for the second round comes on the heels of declines for the first round.
TNT averaged a 2.1 U.S. rating and 3.2 million viewers for the first round of the NBA Playoffs (23 games), down 8% in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year (2.3, 3.4 mil), but flat in ratings and up 7% in viewership from 2008 (2.1, 3.0 mil).
Last year, TNT aired five games of the classic Bulls/Celtics series, including Games 6 and 7 — the two highest rated, most-viewed first round playoff games ever on cable television.
(Turner Sports, TV By The Numbers)
