The national fixation on the Miami Heat continues to translate into massive television ratings for the NBA.
Game 1 of the Heat/Bulls Eastern Conference Finals earned a 7.4 overnight rating on TNT Sunday night, up 40% from Game 1 of last year’s West Finals on TNT, which aired on a Monday (PHX/LAL: 5.3).
Compared to Game 1 of last year’s East Finals on ABC (BOS/ORL: 5.5, ABC), which aired on a Sunday afternoon, the game was up 30%.
The 7.4 is the highest for Game 1 of any Conference Final series since Lakers/Kings Game 1 on NBC in 2002 (7.5). Not only did that 2002 game air on broadcast, but it had a direct lead-in from The Preakness Stakes. By comparison, this year’s game had a lead-in from the 2006 romantic comedy Failure to Launch.
Heat/Bulls was easily the top NBA game of the day, surpassing ABC’s Grizzlies/Thunder Game 7 (5.1) by 45%.
The game earned a whopping 24.3 rating in the Chicago market, and a 23.3 in Miami-Ft. Lauderdale. Cleveland-Akron (10.5) was the fourth-highest rated market.
TNT earned fairly strong numbers for pre-and-post game coverage. The half-hour pregame show earned a 2.1 overnight, while the Inside the NBA postgame show drew a 3.2.
(Numbers from Turner Sports)
