The Nuggets-Timberwolves series is beginning to pick up steam as over five million watched Denver’s rout of Minnesota on Friday night.
Friday’s Nuggets-Timberwolves second round NBA playoff Game 3 averaged 5.21 million viewers on ESPN, up 10% from Nuggets-Suns last year (4.75M) and the fourth-largest audience of the playoffs thus far. The defending champion Nuggets have played in four of the top six games, with their two primetime ABC games against the Lakers owning the top two spots.
Through Friday, all seven Timberwolves playoff games had posted an increase in viewership over last year. Minnesota entered Friday the talk of the NBA with a 2-0 series lead before proceeding to drop both Games 3 and 4 at home.
Knicks-Pacers Game 3 led in with 4.49 million, actually down 11% from Celtics-Sixers last year (5.04M). The first two games of the series outpaced last year’s matchup of Boston and Philadelphia.
NBA playoff games were averaging 3.39 million viewers through Friday, down 10% from the same point of last season (3.77M).
Shifting to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Panthers-Bruins Game 3 averaged a combined 1.54 million across TNT (1.25M) and truTV (289K) — up 26% from Devils-Hurricanes last year (1.22M). The all-Canadian Oilers-Canucks Game 2 followed with just 774,000 (TNT: 597K; truTV: 177K), down 29% from the all-Canadian Oilers-Flames Game 2 on ESPN two years ago (1.09M). (There was no comparable late window last year.)
Stanley Cup playoff games were averaging 1.05 million viewers through Friday, up 7% from the same number of days last season (980K).
Further down the dial, second round coverage of the PGA Tour Charlotte tournament averaged 473,000 on Golf Channel — up from 416,000 last year.
ESPN2 drew 327,000 for a Texas A&M-Florida SEC softball tournament semifinal, down 3% from Alabama-Arkansas last year (338K). It was preceded by LSU-Missouri at 226,000 (-7%) and followed by Arizona-UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament at 156,000 (+68%). In other softball action, BTN topped out at 66,000 for Michigan-Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament.
NASCAR Truck Series racing from Darlington (S.C.) scored 310,000 on FS1, down sharply from last year’s 479,000.
Friday, May 10 sports ratings
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Original chart below:
