Ratings and viewership for the NBA Finals were again the highest in over a decade.
Game 2 of the Cavaliers/Warriors NBA Finals earned a 10.8 final rating and 19.2 million viewers on ABC Sunday night, up 20% in ratings and 27% in viewership from Heat/Spurs last year (9.0, 15.1M) and up 27% and 32%, respectively, from Spurs/Heat in 2013 (8.5, 14.6M). It peaked with 24.4 million viewers in the fast-nationals, up from Game 1’s peak audience of 21.9 million.
The Cavaliers’ overtime win ranks as the highest rated Game 2 of the NBA Finals since Sixers/Lakers in 2001 (11.6), topping the previous high of 10.7 for Pistons/Lakers in 2004. It also earned the largest Game 2 audience since Bulls/Jazz in 1998 (26.3M), per Sports Business Daily — topping the previous high held by Sixers/Lakers (18.7M).
Overall, it was the seventh-most watched NBA Finals telecast since the event returned to ABC in 2003 — and the third when clinching games are excluded. Only Spurs/Heat Game 6 in 2013 (20.6M) and Lakers/Pistons Game 4 in 2004 (20.3M) earned a larger audience without a trophy being awarded. Viewership was higher than all five games of last year’s Spurs/Heat series and even topped each game of Heat/Thunder in 2012, a much-hyped and highly rated series pitting LeBron James against Kevin Durant.
Game 2 had a 7.4 rating among adults 18-49, up 23% from last year (6.0), up 28% from 2013 (5.8), and the highest since 2001 (8.5). It also had a 7.3 rating among adults 18-34, up a third from last year (5.5), up 24% from 2013 (5.9), and the highest since 2012 (7.5).
The NBA Finals was the top draw of a busy sports weekend, topping the race portion of The Belmont Stakes on NBC (18.6M). This is the first time since 2002 that the NBA has the topped the Belmont on the same weekend when the Triple Crown was at stake. Going back further, Game 2 ranks as the top program on television in viewership and the major adult demographics since the Duke/Wisconsin NCAA Tournament title game in April.
Through two games, Cavaliers/Warriors averaged a 10.6 fast-national rating and 18.3 million viewers — up 18% and 26%, respectively, from last year (9.0, 14.9M) and the highest average since the NBA Finals moved to ABC.
UPDATE 6/9: Post updated with final national numbers.
(Sun. numbers from ESPN Media Zone, ABC via TV By the Numbers; additional info from Sports Business Daily, TV Media Insights)
