Despite a close result, Game 2 between the Pacers and Heat earned the smallest audience for the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals in three years.
Game 2 of the Pacers/Heat NBA Eastern Conference Finals drew just under 7.0 million viewers on TNT Friday night, down 4% from Thunder/Spurs Game 2 last year (7.3M), and down 31% from Heat/Bulls Game 2 in 2011 (10.0M).
Compared to Game 2 of last year’s Celtics/Heat ECF on ESPN (8.8M), Friday’s viewership declined by 21%.
The game ranks as the least-viewed Eastern Conference Finals telecast since Celtics/Magic Game 5 in 2010 (6.8M).
Pacers/Heat Game 2 was the first NBA game to air on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend since 2009, when Magic/Cavaliers Game 2 drew a similar 6.9 million viewers. Considering that Game 1 of the series drew 8.2 million viewers on Wednesday night, it would seem likely that the holiday weekend had at least some impact on the numbers.
Last year’s lone Friday night conference final game — Game 3 between the Heat and Celtics — drew 7.6 million viewers on ESPN. Of course, that was not a holiday weekend.
Despite the lower numbers, Friday’s game was still a much stronger draw than Grizzlies/Spurs Game 2 earlier in the week (4.6M).
