With Thursday’s early playoff games down big, the Warriors were able to pick up the slack.
Game 3 of the Warriors/Rockets NBA playoff series delivered a 2.9 final rating and 4.6 million viewers on TNT Thursday night, up 7% in ratings and 15% in viewership from Warriors/Pelicans last year (2.7, 4.0M) and up 16% and 18%, respectively, from Clippers/Warriors in 2014 (2.5, 3.9M).
Golden State’s narrow defeat ranks as the most-watched game of the playoffs on cable (14 telecasts through Thursday), topping the previous high of 4.4 million for Game 2 of the series on Tuesday.
Including ABC’s two games last weekend, the Warriors/Rockets series accounts for three of the four largest playoff audiences through Thursday. The only exception was Game 1 of Pistons/Cavaliers on ABC, which holds the top spot (5.4M).
Earlier Thursday night, Thunder/Mavericks Game 3 had a 1.6 and 2.5 million — down 19% in ratings and 22% in viewership from Cavaliers/Celtics last year (2.1, 3.2M) and down 35% and 39%, respectively, from Thunder/Grizzlies in 2014 (2.6, 4.2M). Game 3 of Raptors/Pacers had 273,000 on NBA TV, down 49% from Bulls/Bucks last year (536K) and down 64% from Pacers/Hawks in ’14 (757K).
(Thu. numbers via Programming Insider, ShowBuzz Daily)
