- 2,936
- 13
this years' playoffs been hitting numerous decade highs, breaking records every other game it seem like.... its most popular period post-Jordan...
[h2]Thursday, May 28, 2009[/h2]
http:// [h3]Cavaliers/Magic Game 4 tops 10 million.[/h3]
The NBA could be on the verge of cementing itself as the second-biggest television draw of the four major sports.
Cavaliers/Magic Game 4 drew a 6.3 U.S. rating and 10.1 million viewers on TNT Tuesday night, up 31% in ratings and 39% in viewership from a 4.8 and 7.2 million for Lakers/Spurs Game 4 on the comparable night last year, and the most-viewed NBA Playoff game ever on cable television -- breaking a record set only one night earlier by Lakers/Nuggets Game 4.
Excluding the NBA Finals, Cavaliers/Magic Game 4 is the most-viewed NBA Playoff game on broadcast or cable since Lakers/Kings Game 7 in 2002.
Despite the record numbers, Game 4 is not the highest rated, most-viewed NBA game ever on cable. That honor still goes to the 2003 NBA All-Star Game on TNT, which drew a 6.6 U.S. rating and 10.8 million viewers.
The Cavaliers/Magic Eastern Conference Finals is averaging a 5.2 U.S. rating and 8.4 million viewers on TNT, up 27% and 34% respectively from a 4.1 and 6.2 million for last year's Lakers/Spurs West Finals, which also aired on TNT. Compared to last year's Pistons/Celtics East Finals, which aired on ESPN, Cavaliers/Magic is up 30% in ratings and 41% in viewers.
Through eight games, the NBA Conference Finals as a whole is averaging a 5.2 U.S. rating and 8.5 million viewers on ESPN, ABC and TNT, up 30% and 43% respectively from a 4.0 and 5.9 million through the comparable point last year. The 5.2 average rating is tied with '02 as the highest for the first eight games of the NBA Conference Finals this decade -- and that includes three years ('00, '01 and '02) when NBC aired the majority of games.
The Conference Finals has also outperformed the first eight games of last year's MLB League Championship Series (4.2 rating, 6.2 million viewers on TBS and FOX) by 24% in ratings and 31% in viewers.