Ratings were not as bad as they could have been, but Raptors-Bucks still ended up in the historically low range.
Saturday’s Bucks-Raptors NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 6 had a 3.8 rating and 6.44 million viewers on TNT, down 22% in ratings and viewership from Celtics-Cavaliers on ESPN last year (4.9, 8.27M), but up 9% and 13% respectively from Cavaliers-Raptors on ESPN in 2016, Toronto’s previous appearance in the conference finals (3.5, 5.71M). There was no Game 6 in 2017.
Compared to last year’s Western Conference Finals Game 6 on TNT — Rockets-Warriors in the same Saturday night window — ratings fell 30% (from 5.4) and viewership 32% (from 9.47M).
Outside of Cavaliers-Raptors in ’16, a 36-point Cleveland victory, Toronto’s series-clinching win ranks as the lowest rated conference final Game 6 since 2005 (Heat-Pistons: 3.2) and the least-watched since 2006 (Mavericks-Suns: 5.89M).
Figures do not include Canadian viewership, which is not measured by Nielsen. The game attracted 3.1 million viewers on Rogers SportsNet, according to Canadian measurement company Numeris. Numeris is similar to Nielsen and uses the same people meters (it also uses diaries, which Nielsen has phased out).
Though low by NBA conference final standards, Game 6 was the most-watched sporting event of Memorial Day weekend. The Indy 500 was second at a 3.4 and 5.44 million; Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final third at a 2.9 and 5.26 million; and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 fourth at a 2.6 and 4.26 million.
It was also the second most-watched Raptors game on U.S. television since 2001. Sixers-Raptors Game 7 in the second round holds the top spot (6.94M).
Overall, the six-game Raptors-Bucks series averaged a 3.5 rating and 5.7 million viewers on TNT — down a third in viewership from last year’s seven-game Cavaliers-Celtics series on ESPN/ABC (8.4M), and down 5% and 9% respectively from the five-game Cavaliers-Celtics series on TNT in 2017 (3.7, 6.3M).
Compared to Cavaliers-Raptors, ratings were flat and viewership increased 2% from 5.60 million. Four of the six games outdrew the 2016 series, which featured three games decided by 30 or more points.
Raptors-Bucks tied 2016 and Cavaliers-Pistons in 2007 as the lowest rated Eastern Conference Finals since 2004. It ranks as the third-least watched conference final since 2007, East or West. Only Cavaliers-Raptors and Spurs-Grizzlies in 2013 (4.90M) rank lower.
A full list of NBA conference final ratings dating back to 2000 is available here.
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 5.29; SportsNet figures from Rogers.com 5.27]
