A record-tying comeback generated a big increase in viewership for the NBA Playoffs Thursday night.
Thursday’s Cavaliers-Pacers NBA Playoffs Game 3 had a 2.2 final rating and 3.6 million viewers on TNT, up 29% in ratings and 42% in viewership from Thunder-Mavericks last year (1.7, 2.5M) and up a tick and 10% respectively from Cavaliers-Celtics in 2015 (2.1, 3.2M).
The Cavaliers’ comeback win was the most-watched first round Game 3 involving LeBron James since 2012, coming after the most-watched Game 2 over the same span. That is a marked turnaround from last Saturday’s opener, the least-watched Game 1 involving James since 2010.
Later in the night, Spurs-Grizzlies Game 3 had a 2.2 and 3.5 million — down 24% in both measures from Warriors-Rockets last year (2.9, 4.6M) and down 19% and 13% respectively from Warriors-Pelicans in 2015 (2.7, 4.0M). Considering the Warriors played in the comparable games both last year and in 2015, the declines are not particularly surprising. Compared to last year’s Spurs-Grizzlies Game 3, which aired on ESPN on a Friday night, ratings and viewership increased 29% from a 1.7 and 2.7 million.
Both games scored a 1.4 rating in adults 18-49, topping the night on television. A new episode of ABC’s Scandal and a re-run of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory tied for third place with a 1.3. The games also won the night in adults 18-34. In six nights of play, the NBA Playoffs has won the night in A18-49 four times and A18-34 five times.
On NBA TV, Raptors-Bucks Game 3 had 250,000 — down 8% from Raptors-Pacers last year (273K) and down 53% from Bulls-Bucks in 2015 (536K). The national telecast was blacked out in home market Milwaukee, where Fox Sports Wisconsin earned a 9.13 rating, its highest ever for a Bucks game.
(Thu. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 4.21, Programming Insider 4.21; Fox Sports via Sports TV Ratings 4.20)
