For the first time in the NBA Finals, overnight ratings hit a multi-year low.
Game 6 of the Warriors/Cavaliers NBA Finals earned a 14.1 overnight rating on ABC Thursday night, down 11% from the same matchup last year (15.9) and down 4% from Spurs/Heat in 2013 (14.7). There was no Game 6 in 2014.
The Cavaliers’ series-tying win, which peaked at a 16.7 from 11:30-11:45 PM ET, earned the lowest overnight for Game 6 of the NBA Finals since Celtics/Lakers in 2010 (12.3) — marking the first time that any Warriors/Cavaliers finals game has hit a multi-year low. Since Game 1 hit a 15-year high in the metered markets, each subsequent game of the series has been flat or down from last year.
The 14.1 still ranks as the tenth-highest NBA overnight on ABC since the network reacquired rights to the league in 2002, and the fifth-highest when title-clinching games are excluded. Warriors/Cavaliers games account for nine of the top sixteen.
While it should be noted that Thursday’s game faced competition from the United States/Ecuador Copa America quarterfinal on Fox Sports 1, last year’s Game 6 faced even tougher competition — United States/Nigeria in the Women’s World Cup on FOX.
Game 6 earned a 44.3 rating in Cleveland, up 6% from last year (42.0) and a series-high. It was the first game of the series to outdraw the comparable game last year. In the Bay Area, the game had a 34.9 rating — down 14% from the Warriors’ title-clincher last year (40.7).
(Thu. numbers from ESPN)
