Mavericks-Thunder and Cavaliers-Celtics delivered yet another pair of steep declines on Wednesday, May 15.
Wednesday’s Mavericks-Thunder second round NBA playoff Game 5 averaged 4.26 million viewers across TNT (3.75M) and truTV (515K), down 44% from Lakers-Warriors last year (7.55M), but still the top sportscast of the day. Cavaliers-Celtics led in with 3.73 million (TNT: 3.38M; truTV: 350K), down 15% from Heat-Knicks last year (4.39M).
Last year’s Lakers-Warriors series set a bar that this year’s series simply cannot reach. Every game that can be compared to that series — a star-studded matchup of LeBron James’ Lakers and Stephen Curry’s Warriors that finished as the most-watched second round series since 1996 — has declined at least a third in viewership.
Shifting to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Avalanche-Stars Game 5 averaged 1.56 million on ESPN — a 29% increase over Maple Leafs-Panthers Game 4 a year ago (1.21M).
Further down the dial, USA Network drew 311,000 for a Manchester United-Newcastle Premier League match. The NFL schedule release drew a combined 378,000 across ESPN2 (240K) and NFL Network (138K).
Not making the below chart, coverage of the NBA Draft Combine drew 82,000 on ESPN2. The FS1 talk show “Undisputed” drew 44,000, its third-smallest audience since returning from hiatus last fall. Two of the bottom three have come this month, including the low-water mark of 41,000 on May 2.
Wednesday, May 15 sports ratings
Updated chart:
Original chart below:
