In a soft year for the NBA Playoffs, the Cavaliers have continued to be the exception.
Game 5 of the Bulls/Cavaliers NBA playoff series drew 5.9 million viewers on TNT Tuesday, up 69% from Wizards/Pacers last year (3.5M), up 46% from Knicks/Pacers in 2013 (4.1M), and the most-watched game of the playoffs on cable (51 telecasts). The previous high was 5.6 million for Game 3 of the series on ESPN Friday.
Viewership has now increased for seven of the Cavaliers’ eight playoff games, not including Sunday’s Game 4 on ABC. That game, which had a 31% increase in overnights, will almost certainly finish up from last year in the final tally. By comparison, only six of the 50 non-Cavaliers games have had increases.
In other action Tuesday, Game 5 of the Clippers/Rockets series drew 5.5 million viewers — down 13% from Clippers/Thunder last year (6.3M) and up 2% from Warriors/Spurs in 2013 (5.3M). The Rockets’ win earned the third-largest audience of the playoffs on cable, trailing only Games 3 and 5 of Cavaliers/Bulls.
Despite the strong numbers, Clippers/Rockets was the 44th of 58 playoff games to have a decline in viewership, and the 38th to have a double-digit drop. Again, that excludes Sunday’s game on ABC.
(Tue. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
