Game 3 of the NBA Finals posted another slight increase in viewership, though it could not match the pace set in Game 2.
Wednesday’s Celtics-Mavericks NBA Finals Game 3 averaged a combined 6.0 rating and 11.43 million viewers across ABC (5.7, 10.97M) and a Kevin Hart-fronted alternate presentation on ESPN (0.27, 453K), flat in ratings and up 2% in viewership from Nuggets-Heat last year (6.0, 11.24M) but down 3% and 1% respectively from Warriors-Celtics in 2022 (6.2, 11.52M). Those games aired on ABC alone.
After the least-watched Game 1 in three years and the most-watched Game 2 in five, Game 3 set no multi-year mark. The Celtics’ win ranks as the second-most watched Game 3 in the past five years, but the fourth-least watched in the past 17 (and second-least watched excluding the COVID-era series of 2020 and 2021).
Compared to Game 2, ratings declined 2% (from 6.2) and viewership 7% (from 12.31M). The Celtics’ win peaked with 13.93 million viewers in the 10:45 PM ET quarter-hour, down from the Game 2 peak of 14.42 million but up from the Game 1 peak of just 12.11 million.
With potentially one game left in the series, the Celtics-Mavericks NBA Finals is averaging a 6.0 rating and 11.57 million viewers — about even with the first three games of Nuggets-Heat last year (6.0, 11.58M) and down slightly from Warriors-Celtics in ’22 (6.3, 11.78M).
Last year’s series finished with a five-game average of 6.1 and 11.64 million and the 2022 series finished with a six-game average of 6.6 and 12.40 million.
Game 3 averaged a combined 3.3 rating in adults 18-49, a series-low and down from last year’s 3.4 for Nuggets-Heat. The 3.3 tops only the two COVID years as the lowest for a Game 3 on record. Combined figures in the other key adult demographics were not immediately available.
