The WNBA Finals stumbled out of the gate on ABC.
Sunday’s Dream/Storm Game 1 drew a 0.33 final rating and 450,000 viewers on ABC, down 11% in ratings and 19% in viewership compared to Fever/Mercury Game 1 on ESPN2 last year (0.37, 555,000) but up 27% and 29%, respectively, from Shock/Silver Stars Game 1 on ESPN2 in 2008 (0.26, 348,000).
This marks the lowest rating ever for a WNBA Finals game on broadcast television. The previous low came for Sun/Monarchs Game 3 in 2005 — the last WNBA Finals game to air on ABC — which drew a comparably healthy 0.6 and 895,000 viewers.
Eleven years may be a long time, but it should be pointed out that NBC earned ratings of 1.6 and 2.3, respectively, for Games 2 and 3 of the 1999 WNBA Finals.
Dream/Storm Game 2 on Tuesday night drew a slightly higher 0.35 rating and 487,000 viewers on ESPN2. The 0.35 rating is even with Fever/Mercury Game 2 last year.
(ESPN)
