With the caveat that last year’s games faced the NFL Draft, ESPN scored increases in viewership for both games of its Friday NBA doubleheader.
Game 3 of the Cavaliers/Bulls NBA playoff series drew 5.6 million viewers on ESPN Friday night, up 74% from Pacers/Wizards last year (3.2M) but down 15% from Heat/Bulls in 2013 (6.6M), the last time LeBron James played Chicago in the playoffs. The first three games of the Cavaliers/Bulls series each trailed the comparable game of Heat/Bulls in 2013.
The Bulls’ buzzer-beating win earned the largest audience of the playoffs on cable (45 telecasts through Friday). No other game on cable has cracked the five million mark.
Viewership has now increased for seven of the Cavaliers’ eight postseason games, not including Sunday’s Cavaliers/Bulls Game 4 on ABC. That game, which had a 31% increase in overnights, will almost certainly finish with an increase in the final tally.
Later Friday night, Game 3 of the Rockets/Clippers series drew just under 5.0 million viewers — up 2% from Thunder/Clippers last year (4.9M) but down 8% from Spurs/Warriors in 2013 (5.4M). The Clippers’ blowout win ranks as just the fourth non-Cavaliers playoff game to have an increase in viewership this year.
(Fri. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
