This year’s NBA Finals on ABC are doing some fantastic ratings numbers for the league. ESPN is touting the ratings for the series as the second highest in history on ABC (second to just the 2004 series between the Pistons and Lakers, drawing an 11.6 average overnight rating for the four games. Through four games, this year’s Thunder-Heat series is up 6% over last year’s Mavericks-Heat series, which had a nearly as strong 10.9 overnight average.
Tuesday’s game four, which saw the Thunder blow an early lead and the Heat come back to get a win, drew a 12.4 overnight, which is the second highest ever for a game four on ABC (Pistons-Lakers in 2004 had a 14.5 rating). Game four is also up by 12% from last year’s game four, which drew just an 11.1. In the local markets, the series has also been getting large viewership numbers. Game four had a 49.1 rating in Oklahoma City (the highest rating ever for an NBA game in the city), and a 34.6 rating in Miami.
Regardless of how you feel about either team in the series, this Finals matchup is giving the NBA a hell of an end to the year… not bad for a league that didn’t start playing games until Christmas this season. With an offseason that won’t be polluted with talks of work stoppages, the NBA is poised for a fantastic 2012-13 season… assuming this series ends well, of course.
[h/t: ESPN Media Zone]
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