It took a few games, but the NBA Finals has finally started to draw strong numbers on ABC.
Game 5 of the Heat/Spurs NBA Finals drew a 9.5 final rating and 16.3 million viewers on ABC Sunday night, down 13% in ratings and 12% in viewership from Thunder/Heat Game 5 last year (10.9, 18.5M), and down 12% and 11%, respectively, from Heat/Mavericks Game 5 in 2011 (10.8, 18.3M).
Sunday’s game ranks as the lowest rated and least-viewed Game 5 of the NBA Finals since Lakers/Magic in 2009 (8.0, 14.2M), and the second-worst Game 5 in those measures since Mavericks/Heat in 2006 (9.1, 14.3M).
Even so, Game 5 narrowly hit a series-high in viewership, and was the second-straight Spurs/Heat telecast to earn at least 16 million viewers — no small feat considering that only 20 of ABC’s 62 NBA Finals telecasts (less than a third) have hit that mark.
The game was also the most-viewed Game 5 to ever involve the San Antonio Spurs, topping the previous high of 15.5 million set in 1999. The 1999 game had a higher rating (10.0).
Heat/Spurs Game 5 drew an 6.3 rating among adults 18-49, down 17% from Game 5 last year (7.6), down 15% from Game 5 in 2011 (7.4), and the lowest for a Game 5 since 2009 (5.7). The 6.3 also marks a 6% decline from a series-high 6.7 in Game 4.
Game 5 also drew a 6.3 among adults 18-34, down 19% from last year (7.8) and down 18% from 2011 (7.7).
Through five games, the NBA Finals has averaged a 9.1 rating and 15.1 million viewers on ABC — down 11% in ratings and viewership from last year (10.1, 16.9M), and down 5% and 6%, respectively, from 2011 (9.6, 16.1M). This marks the highest five-game average for an NBA Finals involving the Spurs since 1999 (11.3, 16.0M).
(This year’s numbers from ESPN, ABC Media Net, Bloomberg, TV By the Numbers)
