Liz Mullen: ESPN: NBA Finals Game 5 averages 13M viewers, up 30% from last year. pic.twitter.com/LattJz6k0P
TV Ratings Rumors
In the latest TV ratings, ABC’s coverage of the NBA Finals Game 5 averaged 9.1 million total viewers and a 2.8 demo rating, up sharply from Friday’s numbers and of course dominating Monday in both measures. Leading into the game itself, the Jimmy Kimmel special did 6.6 mil/1.4, followed by NBA Countdown’s 5.6 mil/1.2.
By the numbers: The hearing last week nearly doubled the TV audience of the first three games of the ongoing NBA Finals, which averaged nearly 12 million viewers on ABC, per Nielsen. Major Trump-era hearings also drew high engagement compared to other national TV events. The final games of the 2021 World Series and the NBA finals drew 11.7 million and 9.91 million viewers, respectively, while the Brett Kavanaugh and James Comey hearings drew around 20 million viewers each.
ABC’s NBA Finals coverage averaged 7.9 million total viewers and a 2.3 rating, down from Game 3’s own preliminary numbers but still up from last year’s comp and of course dominating Friday.
The NBA boasts other significant numbers in other media resources. NBA League Pass subscribers increased by 30% from last season. Social media platforms garnered 13 billion video plays — a 7% increase from 2020-21. Rating should jump during the play-in tournament (Apr. 12-15). Last year, the Lakers-Warriors play-in generated the most viewers (5.6M) for an ESPN NBA telecast since the 2019 Western Conference Finals.
28 Oct 20
