An all-time NBA playoff blowout was a weak draw for TNT.
Friday’s Cavaliers-Celtics NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 2 scored 5.1 million viewers on TNT, down 7% from Raptors-Cavaliers on ESPN last year, which aired on a Thursday night (5.5M), and down 14% from Cavaliers-Hawks on TNT in 2015 (5.9M). Ratings were not immediately available.
Compared to last year’s conference final on TNT, viewership fell by a third from Thunder-Warriors Game 2 (7.6M). That game aired on a Wednesday night.
Cleveland’s stunning 44-point blowout, in which they led by as many as 50 points, was the least-watched conference final game since Spurs-Grizzlies Game 3 in 2013 (4.9M). Among Eastern Conference finals, it was the least-watched in a decade — since Pistons-Cavaliers Game 4 in 2007 (4.7M).
Game 2 scored a 2.0 rating in adults 18-49, down 9% from last year’s ECF Game 2 (2.2) and down 35% from last year’s WCF Game 2 on TNT (3.1). It had a 2.0 in adults 18-34, down a tick from last year’s ECF (2.1) and down a full point from last year’s WCF (3.0).
Figures for Sunday’s Game 3, an equally stunning Celtics victory, were not immediately available.
(Fri. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 5.22)
