The holiday weekend brought softer numbers for the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
Game 4 of the Pacers/Heat NBA Eastern Conference Finals earned a 4.4 U.S. rating and 7.0 million viewers on ESPN Monday night, up 38% in ratings and 35% in viewership from Spurs/Grizzlies last year (3.2, 5.2M) but down 35% and 36%, respectively, from Heat/Celtics in 2012 (6.8, 11.1M). Last year’s Heat/Pacers Game 4 on TNT had a 5.1 and 8.1 million viewers.
Monday’s game was the most-viewed sporting event of the holiday weekend, edging the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 on FOX (7.04M to 6.96M).
Saturday’s Game 3 of the series drew a 4.1 and 6.8 million — up 32% in ratings and 38% in viewership from Spurs/Grizzlies (3.1, 4.9M) and down 11% and 10%, respectively, from Heat/Celtics (4.6, 7.6M). Last year’s Heat/Pacers game had a 4.5 and 7.3 million.
Game 3 ranks as the least-viewed conference final game to involve the Miami Heat since LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined the team in 2010. Game 4 ranks as the third-least viewed.
Through Game 4, the Heat/Pacers series has averaged a 4.6 and 7.3 million viewers on ESPN/ABC — up 48% in ratings and 49% in viewership from Spurs/Grizzlies last year (3.1, 4.9M), but down 4% and 5%, respectively, from last year’s Heat/Pacers series on TNT (4.8, 7.7M). Neither Game 3 nor Game 4 could match the first two games of the series, both of which earned a 4.9 rating and over 7.5 million.
(Weekend numbers/series avg. from ESPN)
