Game 7 may have been a royal whipping, but viewers tuned in to watch the carnage.
ABC drew a 4.2 rating with an 11 share for the Boston Celtics’ 34 point drubbing of the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday, up 40% from a 3.0 for Nets/Cavaliers on the comparable date last year. Excluding Christmas Day games, the 4.2 overnight is the second highest ABC has drawn for an NBA game in the 1:00 PM timeslot.
The only game with a higher rating in the timeslot was Game 1 of the ’03 East Finals, which drew a 4.8 overnight.
The second game of ABC’s doubleheader, Jazz/Lakers Game 1, drew a 4.8 overnight — up 7% from a 4.5 for Spurs/Suns Game 1 last year. In a truly rare event, the game finished ahead of NASCAR in the ratings; the Dan Lowry 400 drew a 4.2 rating on FOX Saturday night.
Overall, ABC averaged a 4.5 rating for its NBA doubleheader, up 18% from last year, and the highest rated non-Christmas NBA doubleheader ever on the network.
