After hitting an NBA playoff-high on Friday night, the Heat/Bulls series hit a viewership low on Monday.
Game 4 of the Heat/Bulls second round NBA playoff series drew 4.9 million viewers on TNT Monday night, up 17% from Sixers/Celtics Game 5 last year (4.2M), but down 38% from Heat/Celtics Game 4 in 2011 (7.8M).
The game ranks as the least-viewed of the series. Every other game drew over five million viewers, including the other blowout — Game 2 (5.3M).
On Friday night, Game 3 of the series drew 6.6 million viewers on ESPN — up 39% from Celtics/Sixers Game 4 last year (4.8M), up 83% from Bulls/Hawks Game 3 in 2011 (3.6M), and the most-viewed game of the NBA Playoffs to date. The previous playoff high was 6.0 million set by Heat/Bucks Game 4 on April 28.
Shifting to the Western Conference series, Monday’s Thunder/Grizzlies Game 4 drew 5.0 million viewers on TNT — down 38% from Lakers/Thunder Game 5 last year (8.1M), and down 10% from Thunder/Grizzlies Game 4 in 2011 (5.6M).
Game 3 of the series on Saturday drew 3.4 million viewers on ESPN, up 6% from Spurs/Clippers Game 3 on ABC last year (3.2M), but down 8% from Thunder/Grizzlies Game 3 on ESPN in 2011 (3.7M).
Finally, Friday’s Game 3 between the Spurs and Warriors drew 5.4 million viewers on ESPN — down 26% from Thunder/Lakers Game 3 last year (7.4M), and down 29% from Lakers/Mavericks Game 3 in 2011 (7.7M).
(Numbers from The Futon Critic, TV By the Numbers [1], [2])
