The NBA Finals hit a series-high for a third-straight game, but there was barely any growth from Game 4 to Game 5.
Monday’s Pacers-Thunder NBA Finals Game 5 averaged a series-high 9.54 million viewers on ABC, down 22% from last year’s Mavericks-Celtics clincher (12.22M) and the least-watched Game 5 of the Finals since Heat-Lakers in the fall 2020 “bubble,” which aired on a Friday night in October (9.19M). Excluding that anomalous circumstance, it was the least-watched Game 5 since Spurs-Nets on a Friday night in 2003 (9.31M).
No other Game 5 in the Nielsen people meter era (1988-present) has fallen short of the ten million mark.
Oklahoma City’s win peaked with 10.91 million in the 11 PM ET quarter-hour, the second-lowest peak of the series, despite Indiana at one point narrowing the lead to two points in the fourth quarter. Viewership peaked at 12 million in Game 4, 11.5 million in Game 3 and 11.1 million in Game 1. Only Game 2 — which the Thunder won easily — had a lower peak, 9.9 million.
Game 5 viewership increased only 1% from Friday’s Game 4 (9.41M). Not counting 2021 — when Game 5 aired on a Saturday night and actually declined from Game 4 — that is the smallest bump from Game 4 to Game 5 of the Finals since 2013.
Through five games, the NBA Finals is now averaging 9.18 million viewers on ABC — down 19% from last year’s full five-game average of 11.3 million and the least-watched Finals at this point of the series since the “bubble.”
It should be noted that the percentage of homes using television is down 13 percent from a year ago, compared to single-digit declines last year, though that does not fully explain the 19 percent drop for this year’s series. The Finals accounts for the five largest TV audiences since the first week of May.
Dating back to last year, six of the past seven NBA Finals games have fallen below the ten million mark. Pacers-Thunder has now had more games with fewer than ten million viewers (all five) than any other Finals outside of the “bubble.”
The closest recent analogue to Pacers-Thunder, Rangers-Diamondbacks in the 2023 World Series, got to 11.45 million in its clinching Game 5. That series averaged slightly fewer viewers through five games (9.11M), though it should be noted Nielsen has expanded its out-of-home viewing sample since then.
