After four unusually weak games, the NBA Finals ended with a second-straight solid performance.
Thursday’s Raptors-Warriors NBA Finals Game 6 earned a 10.7 rating and 18.34 million viewers on ABC, down 9% in ratings and 11% in viewership from 2016 (11.8, 20.70M) and down 20% and 21% respectively from 2015 (13.4, 23.25M), both of which were Warriors-Cavaliers games. There were no game sixes last year or in 2017.
Ratings and viewership were the lowest for a Game 6 in the NBA Finals since 2010 (Celtics-Lakers: 10.4, 17.96M). That span includes just four other games: Warriors-Cavaliers in ’15 and ’16, Spurs-Heat in 2013 (12.3, 20.64M) and Mavericks-Heat in 2011 (13.3, 23.88M).
Of the ten game sixes since 2000, this year’s game ranks in the middle of the pack — the fifth-most watched and tied as the fifth-highest rated (matching Lakers-Celtics in 2008).
Versus previous series-clinchers, Toronto’s coronation rose 15% in ratings and 13% in viewership over Warriors-Cavaliers Game 4 last year (9.3, 16.24M), but fell 21% and 25% respectively from Cavaliers-Warriors Game 5 in 2017 (13.5, 24.53M). Ratings and viewership were the third-lowest for a Finals clincher since 2009 (Lakers-Magic Game 5: 8.0, 14.17M), ahead of 2018 and Heat-Spurs Game 5 in 2014 — Kawhi Leonard‘s previous Finals win (10.3, 18.00M).
This year’s NBA Finals was the first to feature the Raptors, whose Canadian fanbase is not measured by Nielsen. Game 6 had a Canadian audience of 8.0 million viewers across TSN, City TV, RDS and a Canadian ABC feed — a record for the NBA in Canada, and the nation’s largest television audience of the year. It topped the previous highs set by Game 5 (6.9M).
If one were to combine U.S. and Canadian viewership, Game 6 would have a combined audience of over 26 million viewers. That would exceed the U.S.-only audience of every Game 6 since 1998 (Bulls-Jazz: 35.89M).
After falling slightly behind Game 5 in the overnights, Game 6 finished as the highest rated and most-watched of the series. The final two games each had a double-digit rating and more than 18 million viewers; none of the first four games got past an 8.0 or 14 million.
Game 6 had a 6.4 rating in adults 18-49, down 17% from 2016 (7.7) and down 28% from 2015 (8.9). The 6.4 is the lowest in the demo since Pistons-Spurs in 2005 (5.3). It had a 5.4 in adults 18-34, down 25% from ’16 (7.2), down 39% from ’15 (8.8), and the lowest since at least 2006. Ratings in both demos — as well as adults 25-54 (7.1) — fell from the series-highs set in Game 5.
A full list of this year’s NBA Finals ratings, and all previous Finals ratings dating back to 1988, is available here.
[Numbers from Nielsen via Programming Insider 6.14, NBA]
