The season’s final meeting between the leading MVP candidates delivered strong numbers for TNT.
Tuesday’s Thunder-Rockets NBA Playoffs Game 5 earned a 2.7 final rating and 4.1 million viewers on TNT, up 42% in ratings and 38% in viewership from Celtics-Hawks in a similar timeslot last year (1.9, 3.0M) and up 23% and 24% respectively from Mavericks-Rockets in 2015 (2.2, 3.3M).
The Rockets’ win was the most-watched weeknight game of the playoffs (28 telecasts), and the eighth-most watched regardless of day. The Houston-Oklahoma City series generated three of the eight largest audiences so far this postseason, more than any other series.
For the night, it was the second-highest rated show on television in adults 18-49 (1.7) behind NBC’s The Voice (1.8) and topped the charts in adults 18-34 (1.6).
Later in the night, Jazz-Clippers Game 5 had a 2.1 and 3.2 million. There was no comparable late night window last year, as TNT aired a rare 6:00 and 8:30 PM ET doubleheader. Compared to Spurs-Clippers Game 5 in 2015, ratings fell 22% and viewership 21% from a 2.7 and 4.0 million.
Utah’s win ranked third for the night in adults 18-49 (1.4) and second in adults 18-34 (1.3).
Rounding out the Tuesday slate, Grizzlies-Spurs Game 5 had a 0.3 and 470,000 on NBA TV. There was no comparable window last year. National coverage was blacked out in the home markets, with local ratings on Fox Sports Tennessee and Fox Sports Southwest not immediately available.
(Tue. numbers via Programming Insider 4.26)
