The Golden State Warriors are just one win from the NBA Championship following their 104-91 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night, and that Game 5 win continued the trend of absurd overnights for ABC. Game 5 drew a 14.2 overnight rating, marking the highest overnight of the series.
Game 5’s 14.2 was also the highest rating for a Game 5 on ABC in more than a decade, and was up 21% from Game 5 of Spurs-Heat last year…which was the final game of last year’s Finals. That’s right – a non-elimination game in this series was up 21% on the clincher from a year ago.
Locally, the game once again shined. In San Francisco, Game 5 drew a 33.6 overnight, another record for an NBA on ABC game in the market. In Cleveland, the game drew a 42.5, down from Games 3 and 4, but still good for the third-highest rating ever for an NBA on ABC in the market.
Through five games, the Finals has averaged a 13.5 rating, up 27% from last year. We’re also looking at the highest-rated Finals since (of course) Bulls-Jazz in 1998, a lofty peak following a disappointing season for the NBA on national television. If we end up getting to a Game 7, we could be looking some truly insane numbers, despite that potential game taking place on Friday night.
[ESPN]
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