One of the biggest stinkers in conference final history generated a multi-year low on ESPN.
Game 5 of the Raptors/Cavaliers NBA Eastern Conference Finals earned 5.5 million viewers on ESPN Wednesday night, down 39% from Rockets/Warriors last year (8.9M) and down 25% from Heat/Pacers in 2014 (7.3M). Ratings were not immediately available.
There was no comparable game in last year’s Cavaliers/Hawks ECF on TNT, which ended in a sweep.
The Cavaliers’ 38-point rout ranks as the least-watched Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals in a dozen years, since Pistons/Pacers on ESPN in 2004 (4.1M). Regardless of conference, it was the least-watched Game 5 since Jazz/Spurs in 2007 (4.0M).
All five games of the series have hit a multi-year low for the conference finals, and the East finals in particular. Only one game has pulled to within single-digits of last year’s Warriors/Rockets series, Saturday’s Game 3 (-5%).
For the night, Game 5 was easily the top program on television among adults 18-49. Its 2.2 rating in the demo cruised past the second-place mark of 1.6 for NBC’s Law & Order: SVU.
(Wed. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
