If the subpar Cavaliers fail to flip the switch, Celtics-Warriors would suit ABC fine come June.
Celtics-Warriors scored a 2.8 rating and 4.678 million viewers on ABC’s NBA Saturday Primetime over the weekend, up 40% in ratings and 44% in viewership from last year (Clippers-Warriors: 2.0, 3.3M) and up a third and 41% respectively from 2016 (Spurs-Cavs: 2.1, 3.3M).
Golden State’s narrow win scored the fourth-largest audience in the young history of NBA Saturday Primetime (19 telecasts dating back to 2016). The Warriors have now played in the top five games, including two this year.
For the season, Saturday’s game ranks sixth in viewership behind ABC’s three Christmas Day games, Celtics-Cavaliers on Opening Night (3.3, 5.6M) and Warriors-Cavaliers on Martin Luther King Day (2.8, 4.680M). Golden State has played in five or the season’s top eight games.
For the weekend, Celtics-Warriors trailed only the NFL Pro Bowl (5.3, 8.6M) as the highest rated and most-watched sporting event on any network. Across all of television, it ranked third for the weekend in adults 18-49 (1.5) behind the Pro Bowl (2.4) and Grammy Awards (5.9).
In a season of surging NBA ratings, ABC has been no exception. Of the network’s five windows that can be compared to last year, four have increased — and all by double-digits.
In other NBA action, Sixers-Thunder scored a 1.3 rating and 2.1 million viewers on ESPN Sunday evening. There was no comparable window last year. Rockets-Pelicans had a 1.0 (flat) and 1.5 million (-1%) on Friday.
[Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 1.30]
