The Eastern Conference Finals got off to a record start on TNT, as the opener of the Heat/Bulls series earned the largest audience ever for an NBA game on cable television.
Game 1 between the Heat and Bulls drew a 6.2 U.S. rating and over 11.109 million viewers on TNT Sunday night, up 41% in ratings and 56% in viewership from Game 1 of last year’s West Finals on TNT (PHX/LAL G1: 4.4, 7.112M), and up 35% and 52%, respectively, from Game 1 of the 2009 East Finals (ORL/CLE G1: 4.6, 7.321M).
Compared to Game 1 of last year’s East Finals on ABC (BOS/ORL G1: 4.5, 7.030M), ratings and viewership increased by 38% and 58%, respectively.
Heat/Bulls Game 1 ranks as the most-viewed NBA game ever on cable television, topping the previous record set by the 2003 NBA All-Star Game on TNT (10.829M). The previous record for an NBA playoff game on cable was set by Cavaliers/Magic Game 4 in 2009, also on TNT (10.075M).
In addition, the game ranks as the most-viewed Game 1 of any Conference Final series ever on cable. Even prior to the current cable-heavy TV deal, the first two games of each Conference Final typically aired on TNT or TBS. For some perspective, Game 1 (7.2M TV homes) easily surpassed Game 1 of the 1997 Heat/Bulls Eastern Conference Finals, which also aired on TNT (5.4M TV homes).
Excluding the NBA Finals, Sunday’s game ranks as the most-viewed NBA playoff game on any network since Lakers/Kings Game 7 in 2002 (23.796M), and the fourth-most viewed playoff game of the past ten seasons. Only Games 5, 6 and 7 of that aforementioned Lakers/Kings series earned better numbers.
Compared to another major Turner Sports property, Sunday’s game outdrew Game 1 of the Rangers/Yankees ALCS on TBS last October (5.0, 8.111M)
Most-Viewed Non-Finals NBA Playoff Games, Past Ten Seasons
|
#
|
Date
|
Game
|
Round, Game
|
Net
|
Rating
|
Viewers (000)
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Sun., 6/2/02 | LAL 112, SAC 106 | WCF, G7 | NBC |
14.4
|
23,796
|
|
2
|
Fri., 5/31/02 | SAC 102, LAL 106 | WCF, G6 | NBC |
11.1
|
16,644
|
|
3
|
Tue., 5/28/02 | LAL 91, SAC 92 | WCF, G5 | NBC |
9.9
|
14,586
|
|
4
|
Sun., 5/15/11 | MIA 82, CHI 103 | ECF, G1 | TNT |
6.2
|
11,109
|
|
5
|
Tue., 5/26/09 | CLE 114, ORL 116 | ECF, G4 | TNT |
6.3
|
10,075
|
|
6
|
Fri., 5/24/02 | SAC 103, LAL 90 | WCF, G3 | NBC |
6.7
|
10,063
|
|
7
|
Thu., 5/28/09 | ORL 102, CLE 112 | ECF, G5 | TNT |
6.2
|
9,995
|
|
8
|
Wed., 5/29/02 | BOS 92, NJ 103 | ECF, G5 | NBC |
7.3
|
9,913
|
|
9
|
Mon., 5/25/09 | LAL 101, DEN 120 | WCF, G4 | ESPN |
5.8
|
9,731
|
|
10
|
Sun., 5/26/02 | SAC 99, LAL 100 | WCF, G4 | NBC |
6.8
|
9,659
|
Most-Viewed NBA Games Ever on Cable
|
#
|
Date
|
Game
|
Round, Game
|
Net
|
Rating
|
Viewers (000)
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Sun., 5/15/11 | MIA 83, CHI 102 | ECF, G1 | TNT |
6.2
|
11,109
|
|
2
|
Sun., 2/9/03 | WEST 155, EAST 145 | All-Star | TNT |
6.6
|
10,829
|
|
3
|
Tue., 5/26/09 | CLE 114, ORL 116 | ECF, G4 | TNT |
6.3
|
10,075
|
|
4
|
Thu., 5/28/09 | ORL 102, CLE 112 | ECF, G5 | TNT |
6.2
|
9,995
|
|
5
|
Mon., 5/25/09 | LAL 101, DEN 120 | WCF, G4 | ESPN |
5.8
|
9,731
|
|
6
|
Mon., 5/31/04 | MIN 90, LAL 96 | WCF, G6 | TNT |
6.0
|
9,438
|
|
7
|
Wed., 5/27/09 | DEN 94, LAL 103 | WCF, G5 | ESPN |
5.6
|
9,238
|
|
8
|
Mon., 6/1/05 | DET 88, MIA 82 | ECF, G7 | TNT |
6.2
|
9,149
|
|
9
|
Sun., 2/20/11 | WEST 148, EAST 143 | All-Star | TNT |
5.2
|
9,093
|
|
10
|
Thu., 5/13/10 | CLE 85, BOS 94 | Semis, G6 | ESPN |
5.7
|
8,983
|
(Numbers from Turner Sports)
