NBA playoff overnight ratings increased on Friday and Saturday, including an eight-year high for Warriors-Rockets. Also: Blue Jackets-Bruins scored an impressive number after the Kentucky Derby, and Liverpool-Barcelona posted a big increase on TNT.
NBA overnights up Friday and Saturday
Saturday’s Warriors-Rockets NBA semifinal Game 3 earned a 5.5 overnight rating on ABC, up 20% from last year (Raptors-Cavaliers: 4.6) and up 31% from 2017 (Warriors-Jazz: 4.2). The 5.5 is tied as the highest for a primetime playoff game on ABC, excluding the NBA Finals, since 2011 (Heat-Celtics Game 3: 5.7).
Houston’s overtime win, which peaked at a 7.3 from 11-11:15 PM ET, also posted the second-highest overnight of the playoffs. Game 1 of the series had a 5.9 on ABC last Sunday.
On Friday night, the four-overtime Nuggets-Blazers Game 3 had a 3.0 overnight on ESPN (+11%). The game averaged a 3.1 from 1:30-2:15 AM ET. Bucks-Celtics Game 3 had a 3.4 earlier in the night (+3%). Should those results hold, they would mark just the fifth and sixth non-Warriors playoff games to increase this year.
Warriors-Rockets had an 18.2 rating in the Bay Area and an 11.8 in Houston. Nuggets-Blazers drew a 16.8 in Portland and an 8.1 in Denver. Bucks-Celtics had an 11.9 in Milwaukee and a 10.3 in Boston. [ESPN PR 5.4, 5.5]
Jackets-Bruins overnights hit high in post-Derby slot
Airing immediately after the Kentucky Derby, Saturday’s Blue Jackets-Bruins Stanley Cup semifinal Game 5 earned a 3.2 overnight rating on NBC — up 10% from last year (2.9) and up 14% from 2017 (2.8), both of which were Penguins-Capitals games. Excluding the Stanley Cup Final, the 3.2 is the second-highest on record for a Stanley Cup playoff game, behind only Game 7 of the 2015 Blackhawks-Ducks Western Conference Final (3.3).
The game benefited from a stronger Kentucky Derby, which increased 20% over last year and tied a 29-year high.
Avalanche-Sharks Game 5 had a 0.75 on NBCSN later in the night, up 75% from Jets-Predators in a similar window last year (0.58).
Blue Jackets-Bruins had a 15.2 in Columbus — an NHL on NBC record in the market — and a 15.1 in Boston. It trailed the preceding Kentucky Derby in both markets (16.2 in Columbus, 15.4 in Boston). Avalanche-Sharks pulled a 9.1 in Denver and a 3.4 in the Bay Area. [NBC Sports PR 5.5]
First leg of Barca-Liverpool up big on TNT
Wednesday’s first leg of the Liverpool-Barcelona UEFA Champions League semifinal combined for 1.40 million viewers across TNT, Univision and Univision Deportes Network. English-language coverage on TNT scored 635,000 viewers, up 21% from Real Madrid-Bayern Munich last year (525K) and up 101% from Juventus-Monaco in 2017 (316K), both of which aired on FS1.
Spanish-language coverage on Univision and UDN drew 763,000 (+80%), a record for any UEFA semifinal on a U.S. network.
On Tuesday, AFC Ajax-Tottenham combined for 1.02 million. The TNT telecast drew 418,000, down 6% from Roma-Liverpool last year (444K) but up 9% from Atletico Madrid-Real Madrid in 2017 (383K). Again, those games aired on FS1.
Spanish-language coverage had 597,000 on Univision and UDN (+111%). [ShowBuzz Daily 5.1, 5.2]
UPDATE 5/8: Prior year’s UEFA semifinal viewership updated.
