Though up from last year’s comparable game, the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals got off to its worst start in several years.
Game 1 of the Cavaliers/Hawks NBA Eastern Conference Finals drew a 4.4 fast-national rating and 6.8 million viewers on TNT Wednesday night, up 10% in ratings and 8% in viewership from Thunder/Spurs last year (4.0, 6.3M) but down 17% in both measures from Pacers/Heat in 2013 (5.3, 8.2M).
Compared to Heat/Pacers Game 1 on ABC last year, ratings and viewership declined 10% and 12%, respectively, form a 4.9 and 7.8 million.
The Cavaliers’ win ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals in seven years — since Pistons/Celtics in 2008 (3.7, 5.4M). It ranks as the third-least watched when Western Conference games are included, ahead of Thunder/Spurs last year and Grizzlies/Spurs in 2013 (4.9M) and barely behind Tuesday’s Rockets/Warriors Game 1 on ESPN (6.848M to 6.487M).
Wednesday’s opener also earned the second-smallest audience for a conference final game involving LeBron James since 2007, ahead of only Pacers/Heat Game 3 last year (6.8M).
Among adults 18-49, Cavaliers/Hawks drew a 2.8 rating — the top primetime program on any network. The season finales of ABC’s Modern Family and CBS’ Survivor ranked second (2.3). The game could not match the series finale of The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS, which drew a 3.1 after primetime.
(Wed. numbers from Turner Sports, ShowBuzz Daily; additional info from TV By the Numbers [1], [2])
