Overnight ratings dipped for Warriors-Blazers Game 3, but still hit a seven-year high on ESPN. Also: the Preakness topped the PGA Championship; NASCAR All-Star Race overnights hit a low.
Warriors-Blazers ESPN’s top conference final Game 3 since 2012
Saturday’s Warriors-Blazers NBA Western Conference Finals Game 3 earned a 5.4 overnight rating on ESPN, down 7% from Rockets-Warriors on TNT last year, a 41-point rout that aired on a Sunday night (5.8), but up 17% from Warriors-Spurs on ESPN in 2017, which aired on a Saturday night (4.6).
Compared to last year’s conference final Game 3 on ESPN, Celtics-Cavaliers on a Saturday night, overnights increased 6% from a 5.1.
Golden State’s comeback win, which peaked at a 6.2 from 11:30-11:45 PM ET, delivered ESPN’s highest conference final Game 3 overnight since 2012 (Heat-Celtics: 5.6).
The game drew a 21.4 rating in the Bay Area, up 3% from Game 2 (20.7), but down 2% from Game 1 (21.9). It had a 19.6 in Portland, down 4% from Games 1 and 2 (20.5 in each).
Preakness overnights hit low, but top PGA
The race segment of The Preakness Stakes delivered a 4.3 overnight rating on NBC Saturday evening, down 22% from last year (5.5), down 12% from 2017 (4.9), and the lowest for the event since it moved to NBC in 2001. The race did not include the Kentucky Derby winner, Country House, or the horse that crossed the finish line first at the Derby, Maximum Security. It was the first Preakness since 1996 that did not include the Derby winner.
The telecast had a 5.3 during the quarter-hour encompassing the race (7-7:15 PM ET), down 20% from last year (6.6) and down 15% from 2017 (6.2). It ranked second for the day among all sporting events behind the NBA, topping the third round of the PGA Championship.
Baltimore led all markets with a 14.0 rating, down 6% from last year (14.9), down 4% from 2017 (14.6). Louisville ranked second at a 10.8 (-29%) and Ft. Myers, Fla. third at a 9.2 (-7%). Buffalo (8.4) and West Palm Beach, Fla. (7.0) rounded out the top five.
Excluding Buffalo, for which historical data was unavailable, each market posted its lowest Preakness rating since at least 2011.
NASCAR All-Star overnights hit low
The NASCAR All-Star Race earned a 1.3 overnight rating on FS1 Saturday night, down 13% from both last year and 2017 (1.5), and the lowest for the event since at least 2013. The 1.3 is the second-lowest for NASCAR’s Cup Series this season, ahead of only Kansas in the same Saturday night window a week earlier (1.2).
[Numbers from ESPN PR 5.19, NBC Sports, Adam Stern/Twitter 5.19]
