A potential NBA Finals preview got sacked in the ratings by Thursday Night Football.
Warriors-Raptors scored 1.14 million viewers on the NBA on TNT Thursday night, up 9% from the comparable night in 2016 (Clippers-Cavaliers: 1.05M). TNT went dark on the same week last year. Ratings were not immediately available.
Golden State’s overtime loss was the team’s least-watched game on ESPN, ABC or TNT since November 2015 (Warriors-Nuggets: 912K). The previous low was 1.29 million for Warriors-Rockets on TNT two weeks earlier.
Keep in mind that neither home market factored into the numbers. TNT’s broadcast was blacked out in the Bay Area and Toronto does not count toward U.S. TV ratings.
In addition, the game faced tougher-than-usual competition from Thursday Night Football, which neared an all-time record with 21.4 million viewers.
For the season, Thursday’s game ranks 28th out of 34 national TV windows on ESPN and TNT.
Later in the night, Clippers-Kings had 782,000 — down 51% from 2016 (Rockets-Warriors: 1.58M) and the least-watched NBA game of the season on ESPN or TNT. The previous season-low was 882,000 for another Clippers game, against the Spurs on TNT two weeks earlier.
TNT, which has to contend with Thursday Night Football every week, has aired five of the seven least-watched games.
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 11.30]
