A pair of thrilling games delivered strong NBA playoff ratings Wednesday night.
Wednesday’s Pacers-Cavaliers NBA Playoffs Game 5 earned 4.07 million viewers on TNT, up 123% from last year (Hawks-Wizards: 1.83M) and up 30% from 2016 (Hornets-Heat: 3.13M). The game had a 2.55 rating; last year’s rating was not immediately available.
Cleveland’s buzzer-beating win posted the largest weeknight audience of the playoffs. Regardless of day, the Cavaliers-Pacers series accounts for three of the seven most-watched games this postseason.
The last time LeBron James played a first round Game 5 was all the way back in 2012. That year, the fifth game of Knicks-Heat had 4.10 million on TNT.
Later in the night, Timberwolves-Rockets Game 5 had a 2.3 and 3.5 million — down 15% in ratings and 19% in viewership from last year (Bulls-Celtics: 2.7, 4.3M) and down 4% and 6% respectively from 2016 (Rockets-Warriors: 2.4, 3.7M).
Over on NBA TV, Game 5 of Jazz-Thunder drew a 0.5 rating and 823,000 viewers — up 113% in ratings and 133% in viewership from Blazers-Clippers two years ago (0.24, 353K). There was no comparable window last year.
Oklahoma City’s comeback win was the most-watched playoff game on NBA TV since 2014 (Pacers-Hawks Game 6: 1.1M). Overall, it was the network’s most-watched broadcast of any kind since Warriors-Spurs in April 2016 — Golden State’s 72nd win of that season (2.6M).
Earlier in the night, NBA TV drew 297,000 for Wizards-Raptors Game 6.
For the night, Pacers-Cavs tied for second among all television programs in adults 18-49, its 1.6 rating in the demo matching “Survivor” on CBS and a tick behind “Empire” on FOX (1.7). The NBA took the top two spots in adults 18-34, with Pacers-Cavs scoring a 1.5 and T’Wolves-Rockets a 1.4.
[Numbers from Nielsen via Programming Insider 4.26, ShowBuzz Daily 4.26]
