With Cleveland bouncing back from an 0-2 hole to tie the series, Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals was the most-watched in five years.
Monday’s Celtics-Cavaliers NBA East Finals Game 4 scored a 4.8 rating and 7.8 million viewers on ESPN, up 12% in ratings and 10% in viewership from the same matchup last year on TNT (4.3, 7.0M) and up 23% and 27% respectively from Cavs-Raptors on ESPN in 2016 (3.9, 6.1M).
Versus the same window on ESPN last year, Warriors-Spurs Game 4, ratings increased a third (from 3.6) and viewership 34% (from 5.8M).
The Cavs’ series-tying win was the highest rated and most-watched Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals in five years (2013 Heat-Pacers: 5.1, 8.1M).
Cleveland led all markets Monday night with a 24.6 rating, followed by Boston (12.9). Secondary markets Columbus, Ohio (12.1) and Providence, R.I. (9.2) ranked third and fifth, with New Orleans (10.4) sandwiched between.
Game 3 of the series had a 4.05 and 6.8 million Saturday night, up a fraction of a percent in ratings but down 2% in viewership from Celtics-Cavs last year, which aired on a Sunday night (4.0, 7.0M).
Versus the same Saturday night window, Game 3 increased 9% in ratings and 8% in viewership from Warriors-Spurs last year (3.7, 6.3M) and 24% and 27% respectively from Raptors-Cavs in 2016 (3.3, 5.4M).
Not counting elimination games, it was the most-watched conference final game on a Saturday night — the least watched night of the week — since 2009 (Lakers-Nuggets: 8.7M).
Even with the strong numbers, neither game was as big a draw as last Tuesday’s Game 2, which had a 5.1 and 8.2 million.
In adults 18-49, Game 3 had a 2.5 rating (-11%) and Game 4 a 3.1 (+11%). The games dominated their respective nights on television, with Game 3 cruising past second-place “Saturday Night Live” (1.9) and Game 4 more-than-doubling second-place “The Voice” (1.5). The games also took top honors in adults 18-34 (2.3 on Saturday, 2.8 on Monday).
[Numbers from Nielsen via Programming Insider 5.22; ShowBuzz Daily 5.22; ESPN PR 5.21]
