Coming off of flat ratings on Sunday night, the NBA’s Western Conference Finals pulled back ahead of last year’s pace.
Game 4 of the Warriors/Thunder NBA West finals earned a 5.4 fast-national rating and 8.6 million viewers on TNT Tuesday night, up 35% in ratings and 38% in viewership from Hawks/Cavaliers last year (4.0, 6.3M) and up 29% and 34%, respectively, from Spurs/Thunder in 2014 (4.2, 6.4M).
Compared to Game 4 of last year’s Warriors/Rockets WCF on ESPN, ratings increased 8% from 5.0 and viewership 4% from 8.3 million.
The Thunder’s blowout win, which peaked a 6.3 and 10.2 million from 11-11:15 PM ET, ranks as the highest rated and most-watched Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals since Lakers/Nuggets in 2009 (5.8, 9.7M). Regardless of conference, it was the top Game 4 in both measures since Heat/Celtics in 2012 (6.9, 11.1M).
Each game of the series has now set or tied a multi-year high for the conference finals and the West finals in particular. All but one has posted a double-digit increase in ratings and viewership compared to TNT’s Cavaliers/Hawks coverage last year, with Game 3 flat in the former and up just 3% in the latter.
For the night, Game 4 was television’s top program among adults 18-49, its 3.6 rating in the demo cruising past the second-place 2.2 for NBC’s The Voice. Despite how well the series has performed, Tuesday marked just the second time it has won the night in the demo. Games 2 and 3 ranked second behind Empire on FOX and HBO’s Game of Thrones, respectively.
Entering Game 5, the Western Conference Finals has now averaged a 5.0 rating and 8.2 million viewers on TNT — up 19% in ratings and 17% in viewership from Cavaliers/Hawks last year (4.2, 6.8M) and up 25% and 31%, respectively, from Spurs/Thunder in 2014 (4.0, 6.3M)
(Tue. numbers from Turner Sports, with additional info from ShowBuzz Daily)
