For the second straight game, ESPN earned strong numbers for the NBA Western Conference Finals.
Game 5 of the Rockets/Warriors NBA Western Conference Finals drew a 6.8 overnight rating on ESPN Wednesday night, up 19% from Heat/Pacers last year (5.7). There was no comparable game in 2013. Compared to Thunder/Spurs on TNT last year, overnights increased 28% from a 5.3.
The 6.8 overnight is the highest of the NBA Playoffs on any network, topping the previous mark of 6.0 set by Game 4 of the series on Monday. Going back further, it also ranks as the highest for any NBA playoff game outside of the NBA Finals since Pacers/Heat Game 7 in 2013 (8.6) and the highest for a Western Conference playoff game since Spurs/Thunder Game 6 in 2012 (7.1). Both of those games aired on TNT.
For ESPN, the game ranks as the highest rated NBA telecast in the metered markets since Celtics/Heat Game 7 in 2012 (9.1), and the network’s top telecast of any kind since January’s College Football Playoff.
The Warriors’ series-clinching win earned a 21.9 rating in the Bay Area and a 17.1 in Houston, each market’s highest NBA rating on any network since ESPN/ABC resumed airing games in the 2002-03 season.
(Wed. numbers from ESPN Media Zone)
