Game 1 of the NBA Finals fell below previous series to involve LeBron James and the Heat, but finished well ahead of recent series to involve the Spurs.
Game 1 of the Spurs/Heat NBA Finals drew an 8.8 final rating and 14.2 million viewers on ABC Thursday night, down 11% in ratings and 12% in viewership from Heat/Thunder Game 1 last year (9.9, 16.2M), and down 2% and 6%, respectively, from Mavericks/Heat Game 1 in 2011 (9.0, 15.2M).
Spurs/Heat Game 1 ranks as the least-viewed NBA Finals telecast since Celtics/Lakers Game 1 in 2010 (8.6, 14.1M), ending a 17-game streak where each telecast earned at least 15 million viewers.
Game 1 also ranks as the least-viewed NBA Finals telecast to involve the Heat since Mavericks/Heat Game 4 in 2006 (7.8, 11.6M).
With that said, Spurs/Heat Game 1 also ranks as the highest rated and most-viewed NBA Finals game to involve the Spurs since Game 7 of Pistons/Spurs in 2005 (11.9, 18.9M). Other than Pistons/Spurs Game 7, no Spurs game in the NBA Finals has drawn an audience as large since 1999.
When looking at series openers only, Spurs/Heat earned the fourth-largest audience for Game 1 of the NBA Finals since since ABC began televising the NBA in 2002-03 — trailing only Heat/Thunder last year, Pistons/Lakers in 2004 (15.4M), and Mavericks/Heat in 2011.
Among adults 18-49, Game 1 drew a 5.7 rating — down 17% from last year (6.9), down 12% from 2011 (6.5), and tied as the lowest rating in the demo for any NBA Finals telecast since Magic/Lakers Game 1 in 2009 (5.4).
The last time the Spurs played LeBron James in the NBA Finals (2007), Game 1 between the Cavaliers and Spurs drew a record-low 6.3 rating and 9.2 million viewers, with a 3.7 in the adults 18-49 demo.
(Thursday’s numbers from ESPN, with additional info from TV By the Numbers)
