The first Friday night NBA Finals game in 13 years did well, but was no match for last year.
Game 4 of the Warriors/Cavaliers NBA Finals earned a 12.0 overnight rating on ABC Friday night, down 14% from the same matchup last year (13.9) but up 13% from Spurs/Heat in 2014 (10.6), both of which aired on Thursday nights.
The Warriors’ win, which rose from a 7.8 at tip-off to 14.8 from 11:30-11:45 PM ET, tied the third-highest overnight for Game 4 of the NBA Finals since Pistons/Lakers in 2004 (14.4) — matching Heat/Spurs in 2013 and behind only last year and Heat/Thunder in 2012 (12.4).
After the first seven Warriors/Cavaliers finals games hit multi-year highs in the metered markets, Friday’s game was the third straight to post a year-over-year decline. The 12.0 overnight did increase slightly over Games 2 and 3, both of which had an 11.8 overnight.
Game 4 was the first NBA Finals game on a Friday night since 2003, when Games 2 and 5 of Spurs/Nets pulled overnights of 7.3 and 7.7, respectively. Of course, those low numbers had more to do with the poor quality of the series than anything else. It was the first Friday game to increase over the previous contest since 1998, when Game 5 of Jazz/Bulls (20.6) rose 2% over Game 4 (20.2).
Few major sporting events have taken place on a Friday night in recent years. Last year, Game 3 of the World Series had a 9.1 overnight on a Friday, and the USA/Germany Women’s World Cup semifinal had a 6.1, both on FOX. The Opening Ceremony of the Olympics is the only major event to regularly take place on the night, though that is not exactly a fair comparison.
Cleveland was the top market with a 37.4 rating, down 18% from Game 4 last year (45.7) but up 24% from Spurs/Cavaliers Game 4 in 2007 (30.1). In the Bay Area, it had a 31.8 — up 4% from last year (30.5).
(Fri. numbers from ESPN)
