After an impressive Game 1, Cavs-Raptors ratings took a big hit in an early start time Thursday evening.
Thursday’s Cavaliers-Raptors NBA Playoffs Game 2 earned 3.23 million viewers on ESPN, down 8% from Game 2 of the same semifinal last year, which took place on a Wednesday night (3.5M). The game began shortly after 6 PM ET, the earliest start for a weeknight semifinal game in at least two decades. There was no comparable window last year.
Cleveland’s win was the least-watched second round game involving LeBron James in two years (Cavs-Hawks Game 3: 3.18M).
The early start time clearly took a toll on the numbers. Compared to Game 1 on Tuesday, which began at 8 PM, Game 2 declined 41% in ratings (from 3.59 to 2.05), 42% in viewership (from 5.59M) and 41% in adults 18-49 (from 2.1 to 1.2).
Later in the night, Game 2 of Sixers-Celtics scored a 3.2 rating and 5.1 million viewers on TNT — up 23% in ratings and 25% in viewership from last year (Celtics-Wizards Game 3: 2.6, 4.1M) and up 39% and 46% respectively from 2016 (Heat-Raptors Game 2: 2.3, 3.5M). Those games aired on ESPN.
In other action, Jazz-Rockets Game 2 scored a 2.7 and 4.3 million (+23%) on Wednesday night. All five second round windows that can be compared to last year have posted an increase.
On Thursday, Sixers-Celtics ranked second for the night among all television programs in adults 18-49 (2.0). “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS took top honors (2.4). On Wednesday, Jazz-Rockets ranked second in the demo (1.6) behind “Empire” on FOX (1.7). On both nights, the NBA topped all comers in adults 18-34.
[Numbers from Nielsen via Programming Insider 5.3, 5.4; ShowBuzz Daily 5.3, 5.4]
