Ratings roundup — including another four-year high for the Celtics-Heat Eastern Conference Finals; a strong start to the NHL’s second round; a season-low for Sunday Night Baseball and more.
C’s Game 2 rout of Heat still coasts to four-year high
Thursday’s Celtics-Heat NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 2 averaged a 3.1 rating and 6.05 million viewers on ESPN, the highest rated and most-watched Game 2 of the East Finals since Cavaliers-Celtics in 2018, the previous such series to air in the normal time of year and feature two American teams (5.1, 8.42M). Boston’s blowout win jumped 56% in ratings and 59% in viewership from last year’s similarly-lopsided Hawks-Bucks Game 2 on TNT.
Game 2 averaged a 12.6 rating in Boston and a 7.5 in Miami, both down from Tuesday’s more competitive Game 1 (14.0; 8.2). As for the other conference final, Mavericks-Warriors Game 1 on TNT Wednesday drew a 17.8 in the Bay Area and a 9.4 in Dallas-Ft. Worth. National figures for both Game 1s were previously reported here.
In other NBA action, Tuesday’s NBA Draft Lottery averaged a 1.3 and 2.15 million — the smallest audience for the event in at least 15 years.
Good start to Stanley Cup round two
Wednesday’s Rangers-Hurricanes second round Stanley Cup playoff Game 1 averaged a 0.85 rating and 1.66 million viewers on ESPN, marking the largest audience for a second round opener on cable since Wild-Blackhawks on NBCSN in 2015 (1.87M). Keep in mind there have been second round openers on broadcast with more viewers, including Bruins-Islanders on NBC last year (2.05M*).
The Oilers-Flames nightcap chipped in just 894,000 viewers, the least-watched of this year’s semifinal openers, but up from last year’s all-Canadian Montreal-Winnipeg Game 1 (630K*).
Shifting to TNT, Lightning-Panthers scored a 0.65 and 1.32 million for Game 1 last Tuesday and a 0.68 and 1.38 million for Game 2 on Thursday. Last year’s similarly regional Lightning-Hurricanes series opened with a 0.41 and 821,000 and a 0.47 and 869,000 (pending revision).
Finally, Blues-Avalanche opened with 1.20 million viewers on Tuesday and 1.48 million on Thursday. That compares to 1.57 million and 954,000 for the first two games of Golden Knights-Avalanche last year (pending revision), with the first game on NBC and the second on NBCSN.
Sunday Night Baseball hits season-low opposite Game 7s
Facing Game 7s in the NBA and NHL, ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball (Giants-Cardinals) averaged a season-low 0.6 rating and 961,000 viewers last weekend — down 26% in ratings and at least 29% in viewership from Cardinals-Padres on the same weekend last year (0.8, 1.35M*). The game ranked last in viewership among the four major sportscasts last Sunday night, trailing Mavericks-Suns Game 7 on TNT (6.29M), Penguins-Rangers Game 7 on TBS (2.34M) and even Stars-Flames Game 7 on ESPN2 (1.02M). It did post a higher rating than the latter game (0.57 to 0.51).
In other action, FS1 drew a 0.23 and 381,000 for Padres-Braves last Saturday and TBS 173,000 for Astros-Red Sox this past Tuesday.
Plus: NASCAR, IndyCar, WNBA, UFC
Last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race from Kansas averaged a 1.4 and 2.34 million on FS1, down 13% in ratings and 17% in viewership from last year (1.6, 2.8M) but up significantly from two years ago, when the race was run midweek in the summer (0.9, 1.47M). The race peaked with 2.8 million. … The IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Indianapolis averaged a 0.6 and 998,000 on NBC last Saturday, the smallest audience for the event since 2018 (780K). … Last weekend’s Mercury-Storm WNBA game on ABC averaged a 0.35 and 553,000, down from the network’s first game last season, which took place on the opening weekend of play (Sky-Mystics: 0.39, 611K*). … Sandwiched between NHL Game 7s, last Saturday’s UFC Fight Night on ESPN drew a 0.40 and 726,000 — down from the previous fight night two weeks earlier, which aired on a day with no NBA or NHL playoff games (0.47, 830K).
[Nielsen estimates from Programming Insider, ShowBuzz Daily]
