The end of the NBA’s highest-profile series was a hit in the overnight ratings.
Friday’s Warriors-Rockets NBA semifinal Game 6 earned a 5.8 overnight rating on ESPN, up 71% from Celtics-Wizards two years ago (3.4). There was no comparable window last year.
Golden State’s narrow win, which peaked at a 7.2 from 11:15-11:30 PM ET, trailed only Cavaliers-Celtics Game 6 in 2010 (7.1) as ESPN’s highest rated second round game in the metered markets.
The 5.8 is the second-highest of the NBA Playoffs across all networks, trailing Game 1 of the series on April 28 (5.9).
The Bay Area led all markets Friday night with an 18.7 rating. Houston was a distant second at a 13.2. Portland (9.0), Sacramento (8.1) and Atlanta (7.7) rounded out the top five.
Even though ratings have declined for the majority of games, the NBA Playoffs is now averaging a 3.3 metered market rating on ESPN/ABC — up 3% from last year. Averages across all networks were not available.
In other playoff action, Thursday’s Raptors-Sixers Game 6 had a 2.8 final rating and 4.41 million viewers on ESPN, up 8% in ratings and 5% in viewership from 2017 (Spurs-Rockets: 2.6, 4.19M). The Nuggets-Blazers nightcap had a 2.6 and 3.95 million.
[Numbers from ESPN PR 5.11, Nielsen via Programming Insider 5.11]
