Even with a lopsided final score, the finale of the Heat/Pacers series scored one of the largest NBA audiences in years.
Game 7 of the Pacers/Heat NBA Eastern Conference Finals drew a 7.1 U.S. rating and 11.5 million viewers on TNT Monday night, according to Nielsen fast-nationals — down 8% in ratings and 14% in viewership from Celtics/Heat Game 7 on ESPN last year (7.7, 13.3M), but up 15% and 26%, respectively, from Pistons/Heat Game 7 on TNT in 2005 (6.2, 9.1M).
Pacers/Heat Game 7 ranks as the second-most viewed NBA game ever on cable television, ranking behind only last year’s Game 7. The six most-viewed NBA games on cable have all involved the Miami Heat, and twelve of the top thirteen have involved LeBron James.
Excluding the NBA Finals, Game 7 ranks as the fourth-most viewed NBA game on any network since the current television arrangement began in 2002 — trailing only last year’s Game 7, Heat/Lakers on Christmas Day 2004 (13.2M), and Heat/Lakers on Christmas Day 2011 (13.1M).
Monday’s game drew a 5.1 rating among adults 18-49, down 9% from last year’s Game 7 (5.6), but television’s largest rating in the demo since NBC’s “The Voice” on April 15 (5.2). Game 7 had a higher rating in the demo than fourteen of the last sixteen World Series games.
Despite the near-record numbers, Monday’s game ranks as the second-least viewed Game 7 of a conference final since at least 1996, ahead of only Pistons/Heat in 2005. The uncompetitive nature of the game likely had much to do with that.
On Saturday, Game 6 of the series drew a 4.9 and 8.2 million viewers — down 18% in ratings and 13% in viewership from Spurs/Thunder Game 6 last year (6.0, 9.5M). Compared to Game 6 of last year’s ECF on ESPN, ratings and viewership declined by 28% and 26%, respectively, from a 6.8 and 11.1 million.
Excluding last year’s Celtics/Heat Game 7, the game earned the largest NBA playoff audience on a Saturday night since Cavaliers/Magic Game 6 in 2009 (8.4M).
Overall, the seven-game Heat/Pacers series averaged a 5.2 U.S. rating and 8.4 million viewers on TNT — up 4% in ratings and 8% in viewership from Thunder/Spurs last year (5.0, 7.8M), but down 16% and 19%, respectively, from Heat/Bulls in 2011 (6.2, 10.4M).
Compared to Heat/Celtics on ESPN last year, the Heat/Pacers series declined by 16% in ratings and 17% in viewership from a 6.2 and 10.1 million viewers.
Every single game of the Heat/Pacers series had a decline in ratings and viewership from the comparable game of Heat/Celtics last year. Keep in mind that the Boston television market has more-than-twice as many TV homes as Indianapolis.
Viewership For Game 7 of the NBA Conference Finals
Past 15 years
(Monday’s numbers from Turner Sports, with additional info from TV By the Numbers; Saturday numbers from Bloomberg, TV By the Numbers)
