The Rockets-Warriors series continues to deliver big numbers.
Wednesday’s Rockets-Warriors NBA semifinal Game 5 earned 6.77 million viewers on TNT, trailing only Game 4 of the series on Monday (6.88M) as the most-watched first or second round playoff game on cable since 2012 (Heat-Pacers Game 6: 6.89M). Ratings were not immediately available; there was no comparable window last year.
Golden State’s win delivered the fourth-largest audience of the postseason. The Warriors have played in the seven most-watched games thus far, with Warriors-Rockets taking up the top four spots.
The other series have not been nearly as strong. Earlier in the night, Celtics-Bucks Game 5 had 4.82 million — down 20% from last year (Sixers-Celtics: 6.02M), but up 28% from 2017 (Wizards-Celtics: 3.77M).
Milwaukee’s series-clinching win was the most-watched game of the postseason that did not involve the Warriors.
On Tuesday night, Sixers-Raptors Game 5 had a 2.5 rating and 3.71 million viewers on TNT — down a tick in ratings and 10% in viewership from last year (Jazz-Rockets: 2.6, 4.11M) and down 14% and 22% respectively from 2017 (Rockets-Spurs: 2.9, 4.73M).
The Blazers-Nuggets nightcap had a 2.3 (-28%) and 3.43 million (-31%).
Through Wednesday, viewership has declined for 44 of the 58 NBA playoff games that can be compared to last year. With Warriors games excluded, 38 of 44 games have declined.
On both Tuesday and Wednesday, the NBA took the top two spots on all of television in adults 18-34 and 18-49. Rockets-Warriors had a 2.75 rating in the latter demo, the highest of the playoffs.
Largest early round NBA playoff audiences since 2012
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 5.9, Programming Insider 5.8]
