For the fifth straight game, overnight ratings for the NBA Finals were the highest in more than a decade.
Game 5 of the Cavaliers/Warriors NBA Finals earned a 14.2 overnight rating on ABC Sunday night, up 21% from last year’s Heat/Spurs clincher (11.7), up 25% from Heat/Spurs in 2013 (11.4), and the highest for a Game 5 since Lakers/Pistons in 2004 (15.4). It trails only 2004 as the highest rated Game 5 in the metered markets since Jazz/Bulls in 1998 (20.6).
All five games of the Warriors/Cavaliers series have hit at least an 11-year high in the overnights, with Games 2 and 3 the highest in 14 years.
The 14.2 is also the seventh-highest overnight for an NBA Finals game since the event moved to ABC in 2003, and the third-highest when clinching games are excluded. Warriors/Cavaliers accounts for five of the seven highest non-clinching overnights.
Cleveland was the top market for Sunday’s game with a 42.5 rating, down 7% from Game 4 (45.7) and down 13% from Game 3 (49.0), but still the market’s third-highest for an NBA game on ABC. It drew a 33.6 in the Bay Area, up 10% from Game 4 (30.5) and up 6% from Game 3 (31.6), and the a record for the NBA on ABC in the market.
The Warriors’ win peaked with an 18.1 overnight from 10:30-10:45 PM ET, easily the highest peak quarter-hour of the series. The previous high was a 16.9 in Game 2, also on a Sunday night.
(Sun. overnight from ESPN Media Zone)
