The on-court results are exactly the same as last year, but ratings for the NBA Finals continue to rise.
Friday’s Warriors-Cavaliers NBA Finals Game 4 earned a 10.7 rating and 19.0 million viewers on ABC, per Nielsen fast-nationals — up 9% in ratings and 15% in viewership from last year (9.8, 16.6M) but down 9% and 4% respectively from 2015 (11.7, 19.8M), both of which featured the same two teams. The 2015 game aired on a Thursday night.
The Cavaliers’ season-saving win trails only 2015 as the highest rated and most-watched Game 4 of the finals since Lakers-Pistons in 2004 (12.7, 20.3M). Including the 375,000 who streamed coverage on the WatchESPN app, the game’s audience of 19.4 million still ranks second-best since 2004.
It also ranks as the most-watched Friday night NBA Finals game since Jazz-Bulls Game 5 in 1998 (30.5M), with the caveat that there have been only 11 Friday games over that 19-year span. Outside of the Olympics, Game 4 ranks second among all Friday night sporting events since 2011, trailing only Game 3 of last year’s World Series (11.0, 19.4M).
Viewership peaked at 22.5 million viewers from 11-11:30 PM ET, up from last year’s peak of 20.4 million but down from the 2015 mark of 23.4 million.
Game 4 earned a 6.8 rating in adults 18-49, up 13% from last year (6.0) but down 11% from 2015 (7.6). It was the third-best Game 4 rating in the demo since 2004 (9.1), behind 2015 and Thunder-Heat in 2012 (7.4). The game also had a 6.1 in adults 18-49, up 13% from last year (5.4) but down 18% from 2015 (7.4).
The NBA Finals has averaged a 10.8 rating and 19.4 million viewers on ABC through four games, up 7% in ratings and 12% in viewership from last year (10.1, 17.4M). Viewership has increased double-digits despite the series playing out much the same as last year, with Cleveland down 3-1 and three of the first four games blowouts. The Warriors’ offseason addition of Kevin Durant, their attempt at an undefeated postseason, and the hype surrounding a so-called ‘trilogy’ would seem to be the difference.
Compared to 2015, when the teams split the first four games and three of the four were nailbiters, ratings are down 2% from 11.0 but viewership is up 3% from 18.9 million. Including streaming, the four-game average of 19.8 million viewers is the largest for the finals since 1998.
[Fri. numbers from ESPN, with additional info from ShowBuzz Daily 6.12]
