The small market Thunder/Spurs series continues to attract large national audiences.
Game 5 of the Thunder/Spurs NBA Western Conference Finals drew 8.507 million viewers on TNT Monday night, down 18% from Heat/Bulls Game 5 on a Thursday night last year (10.407M) and down 2% from Suns/Lakers Game 5 on a Thursday night in 2010 (8.670M).
Compared to Thunder/Mavericks Game 5 on ESPN last year, viewership rose 21% from 7.012 million.
Monday’s game ranks as the most-viewed Western Conference Finals telecast that did not involve the Lakers since the current television contracts went into effect in the 2002-03 season. The previous high was 7.410 million for Mavericks/Thunder Game 4 last year.
Among adults 18-49, Game 5 (3.6) was the highest rated program of the night in all of television.
On Saturday, Game 4 of the series drew 6.529 million viewers — down 33% from Bulls/Heat Game 4 on a Tuesday night last year (9.770M), and down 15% from Lakers/Suns Game 4 on a Tuesday night in 2010 (7.641M).
Compared to Mavericks/Thunder Game 4 last year, viewership declined 12% from 7.410 million.
With that said, the telecast drew more viewers than last year’s lone Saturday night conference final game — Mavericks/Thunder Game 3, which drew 6.175 million.
(Monday’s numbers from TV By the Numbers; Saturday’s numbers from TV By the Numbers)
