A thriller between the Sixers and Knicks topped the sports viewership charts for Tuesday, April 30.
Tuesday’s Sixers-Knicks first round NBA playoff Game 5 averaged 3.59 million viewers across TNT (3.19M) and truTV (400K), up 8% from Hawks-Celtics last year (3.32M) and the most-watched sportscast of the day.
The Sixers’ overtime win was the exception on a down night for the NBA Playoffs. Pacers-Bucks Game 5 followed with 2.81 million (TNT: 2.50M; truTV: 313K), down 12% from Clippers-Suns a year ago (3.19M). On NBA TV, Magic-Cavaliers drew 402,000 — down 32% from last year’s Timberwolves-Nuggets game (589K).
Through Tuesday, NBA playoff games were averaging 3.05 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, TNT/truTV and NBA TV — down 8% from last year (3.30M). Excluding NBA TV, viewership is down a more modest 5% year-over-year (from 3.66 to 3.47 million).
The day’s top non-NBA sports audience belonged to the UEFA Champions League, as the first leg of the Bayern Munich-Real Madrid semifinal combined for 1.56 million across CBS (958K) and Univision (606K).
Shifting to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, ESPN drew 1.22 million for Maple Leafs-Bruins and 835,000 for Avalanche-Jets — up 31 and 20 percent respectively from last year’s equivalent doubleheader (Islanders-Hurricanes: 933K; Kings-Oilers: 695K). The competing TBS doubleheader of Islanders-Hurricanes and Predators-Canucks drew 539,000 and 320,000 respectively, both down from the lone TBS window last year (Wild-Stars: 565K).
Further down the dial, a Concacaf Champions League match between Pachuca and Club America of Liga MX drew 201,000 on TUDN. A Rafael Nadal match at the Madrid Open drew 196,000 on Tennis Channel. MLB Network drew 161,000 for primetime Major League Baseball.
Tuesday, April 30 sports ratings
Updated chart (includes UEFA on CBS):
Original chart below:
