Game 6 of the NBA Finals was an all-time blowout, but still drew the fourth-highest overnight of any NBA game on ABC.
The Celtics’ 39 point Game 6 victory drew a 12.8 overnight on ABC, up 15% from an 11.1 overnight for Game 6 of the Heat/Mavericks series in 2006, and the highest rated Game 6 of the NBA Finals since 2000.
Game 6 drew the fourth-largest overnight of any NBA game on ABC, behind only Games 4 and 5 in 2004 and Game 7 in 2005.
The 12.8 is the highest overnight rating for any sporting event since the Super Bowl, tied with the Kansas/Memphis NCAA title game in April. Excluding the NFL, the 12.8 overnight for Game 6 is tied as the second largest of the entire year, behind only the LSU/Ohio State college football title game in January.
NBA games account for two of the five highest overnight ratings for non-NFL sporting events this year.
NBC edged ABC to win prime time in total viewers, on the strength of surprisingly strong numbers for America’s Got Talent. Keep in mind that the prime time numbers count only the 9:00-11:00 PM portion of the NBA game. Game 6 should easily finish as the night’s most watched show.
Highest overnight rating for sporting events in 2008.
excluding the NFL
N/A*: NCAAF: LSU/Ohio State (Mon., 1/7/08, 8 PM FOX)
12.8: NBA: Lakers/Celtics Game 6 (Tue., 6/17/08, 9 PM ABC)
12.8: NCAAB: Kansas/Memphis (Mon., 4/7/08, 9 PM CBS)
12.1: NBA: Celtics/Lakers Game 5 (Sun., 6/15/08, 9 PM ABC)
12.0: Rose Bowl, USC/Illinois (Tue., 1/1/08, 5 PM ABC)
* The overnight ratings for the BCS title game are unavailable. However, because the game drew a 14.4 final rating, common sense says it drew at least a 12.9 overnight.
