Another thriller between the Pacers and Knicks delivered another increase in viewership on TNT.
Wednesday’s Pacers-Knicks second round NBA playoff Game 2 averaged 4.90 million viewers across TNT (4.34M) and truTV (565K), up 9% from Sixers-Celtics last year (4.51M) and the most-watched sporting event of the day. The Knicks have now played in three of the eight most-watched NBA playoff games thus far, matching the Nuggets as the most of any team.
The NBA Playoffs is now averaging 3.29 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, TNT/truTV and NBA TV, down 10% from the same point last year (3.66M).
With only one NBA game on the schedule Wednesday, the Stanley Cup Playoffs placed second for the night as 1.82 million watched Bruins-Panthers Game 2 on ESPN — up 40% from Devils-Hurricanes last year (1.30M). The all-Canadian Oilers-Canucks nightcap had half as many viewers with 902,000, down 31% from Oilers-Golden Knights a year ago (1.31M).
Stanley Cup playoff games are now averaging 1.03 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TBS, TNT and truTV, up 7% from the same number of days last postseason (960K).
Outside of playoff action, the Real Madrid-Bayern Munich UEFA Champions League semifinal averaged a combined 1.79 million across CBS (1.04M) and Univision and TUDN (747K).
Further down the list, FS1 drew 151,000 for a Diamondbacks-Reds Major League Baseball game, preceded by early and late afternoon matinees on MLB Network at 134 and 132,000 respectively.
The same day that its cancellation was reported by Racer, NASCAR Race Hub topped all other FS1 studio shows with 123,000 viewers. (Keep in mind it was an abbreviated half-hour edition to accommodate the aforementioned Diamondbacks-Reds game.)
In college baseball, ESPN2 drew 66,000 for Penn State-West Virginia. As for the Penn State softball team, a Big Ten Tournament matchup against Maryland drew 47,000 on BTN — the most-watched game on the opening day of the tournament.
Wednesday, May 8 sports ratings
Updated chart:
Original chart below:
