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NBA Finals television ratings

This is a list of television ratings for NBA Finals in the United States, based on Nielsen viewing data.[1] The highest rated and most watched NBA Finals series was the 1998 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz, which averaged an 18.7 rating / 33 share and 29.04 million viewers on NBC. That series also featured the highest rated and most watched NBA Finals game, as the Sunday night averaged a 22.3 rating / 38 share and 35.89 million viewers. The 1987 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics was the highest rated and most watched NBA Finals series on CBS, averaging a 15.9 rating / 32 share and 24.12 million viewers. Game 7 of the 1988 NBA Finals registered the network's highest rated and most watched NBA game with a 21.2 rating / 37 share.

The 2015 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers was the highest rated NBA Finals series on ABC averaging an 11.6 rating / 21 share and 19.94 million viewers. The 2017 NBA Finals featuring the same two teams was the most watched NBA Final series on ABC averaging an 11.3 rating / 22 share and 20.38 million viewers. Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals registered the network's highest rated and most watched NBA game with an average 15.8 rating / 29 share and 31.02 million viewers.[2] It was the first basketball game to draw more than 30 million average viewers in 18 years, and only the seventh non-NFL sports telecast (excluding the Olympics) to have done so since 1998.[3]

The 2019 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors had a drop in American viewership. Analysts cited the presence of a Canadian team (Canadian viewership does not count towards U.S. Nielsen ratings, leading to only one U.S. home market being reflected in viewership), as a factor in the drop.[4][5] At the same time, the presence of the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals boosted Canadian viewership to record levels.[6]

For the 2020 NBA Finals, the ratings dropped to a historic low, with one of the games drawing only 5.9 million viewers.[7] The average viewers figure over 6 games was 7.5 million, which is a 51% decline from the previous year.[8] Some have claimed this was due to the players' political activism; others have claimed this was due to the finals being played out of season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as other sports such as the NHL playoffs and the MLB playoffs also showed a significant decline in ratings.[7][9]

Single game superlatives (1987–present)

Game-by-game breakdown by year (1974–present)

Figures are expressed as Rating/Share. Rating represents the percentage of US TV households that watched the game, Share represents the percentage of TV sets in use that were tuned to the game. Note that game-by-game viewership for pre-2000 series were generally unavailable.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ For Canadian viewership numbers, see 2019 NBA Finals § Viewership.

References

  1. ^ Lewis, Jon. "NBA Finals Ratings History (1988-Present)". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  2. ^ Douglas Pucci (June 21, 2016). "Sunday Final Nationals: Cavaliers-Warriors NBA Finals Game 7 on ABC Draws Best NBA Game Ratings in 18 Years". Programming Insider. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Paulsen (June 20, 2016). "LeBron, Cleveland's Game 7 Triumph Tops 30 Million Viewers". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  4. ^ Thorne, Will (May 31, 2019). "NBA Finals Game 1 Scores Lowest Ratings in 10 Years". Variety. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  5. ^ "TV Ratings: NBA Finals Open With 10-Year Low". The Hollywood Reporter. 31 May 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  6. ^ "Raptors set Canadian TV record in Game 1 of NBA Finals, but U.S. ratings down". CTV News. Canadian Press. 31 May 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Helin, Kurt (October 9, 2020). "Report: Adam Silver surprised by low ratings for NBA Finals". NBC Sports.
  8. ^ Palmeri, Christopher (October 13, 2020). "NBA Ratings Decline Points to Broader Trouble in TV Watching". Bloomberg.
  9. ^ Beer, Tommy (October 15, 2020). "NBA's Ratings Drop Not Due To Blowback Over Players' Activism, Poll Suggests". Forbes.
  10. ^ Lewis, Jon (June 7, 2024). "NBA Finals opens under 11 million for Celtics' rout of Mavs". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  11. ^ Lewis, Jon (June 10, 2024). "NBA Finals Game 2 bounces back, ekes out five-year high". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  12. ^ Lewis, Jon (June 13, 2024). "NBA Finals Game 3 scores another slight viewer bump". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  13. ^ Lewis, Jon (June 17, 2024). "NBA Finals Game 3 scores another slight viewer bump". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  14. ^ Pucci, Douglas (June 18, 2024). "Monday Ratings: NBA Finals Conclude on ABC with Boston Celtics as Champions". Programming Insider. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  15. ^ Lewis, Jon (June 13, 2023). "NBA Finals ends with four-year Game 5 high". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  16. ^ Lewis, Jon (June 5, 2023). "Heat-Nuggets opens within 3% of C's-Warriors". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  17. ^ Lewis, Jon (June 6, 2023). "NBA Finals Game 2 viewership same as last year". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  18. ^ Lewis, Jon (June 8, 2023). "NNuggets-Heat again just slightly off last year's pace". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  19. ^ Lewis, Jon (June 12, 2023). "Nuggets-Heat hits series-low in Game 4". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  20. ^ Lewis, Jon (June 13, 2023). "NBA Finals ends with four-year Game 5 high". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  21. ^ a b "NBA Finals on the low side; Game 6 nears 14 million". 17 June 2022.
  22. ^ Paulsen (June 3, 2022). "Surprisingly slow start for Celtics-Warriors NBA Finals". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  23. ^ Paulsen (June 7, 2022). "Viewership for Warriors' Game 2 rout unchanged from Game 1". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  24. ^ Paulsen (June 9, 2022). "Finals remains in the 6.0 rating, 11 million viewer range". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  25. ^ Paulson (June 13, 2022). "TGIF: Finals cracks 12 million mark in Game 4". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  26. ^ Paulson (June 14, 2022). "NBA scores top audience since hiatus in Game 5 of Finals". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  27. ^ Paulsen (July 21, 2021). "NBA Finals ends on healthier note". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  28. ^ Paulsen (September 30, 2020). "NBA Finals posts smallest audience ever in Game 1". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  29. ^ a b Paulsen (October 6, 2020). "More record-lows for NBA Finals". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  30. ^ Paulsen (October 8, 2020). "Game 4 better, but NBA Finals continues to struggle". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  31. ^ Pucci, Douglas (October 12, 2020). "Friday Final Ratings: NBA and MLB Each Rise to New Postseason Highs in Total Viewers". Programming Insider. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  32. ^ Paulsen (October 13, 2020). "NBA Finals ratings show improvement, but still low, at series end". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  33. ^ "Game 1 Ratings".
  34. ^ "Game 2 Ratings".
  35. ^ "Game 3 Ratings".
  36. ^ "Game 4 Ratings".
  37. ^ "Game 5 Ratings".
  38. ^ Douglas Pucci (June 14, 2019). "Thursday Final Ratings: Toronto Raptors Series-Clinching Victory in NBA Finals Sets All-Time NBA Viewer Record in Canada with Near 8 Million Viewers". Programming Insider. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  39. ^ a b c d "NBA Finals Ratings History (1988-Present) - Sports Media Watch". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  40. ^ a b Paulsen (June 5, 2017). "NBA Finals Viewership at Post-Jordan High Through Two Games". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  41. ^ Mitch Metcalf (June 2, 2017). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Thursday Cable Originals & Broadcast Finals: 6.1.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on June 3, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  42. ^ Mitch Metcalf (June 6, 2017). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.4.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  43. ^ Paulsen (June 8, 2017). "Nailbiter Sends NBA Finals Game 3 Past 20 Million Mark". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  44. ^ Mitch Metcalf (June 8, 2017). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.7.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on June 8, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  45. ^ Paulsen (June 10, 2017). "Good Times Continue, Somehow, For NBA Finals". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  46. ^ Mitch Metcalf (June 12, 2017). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Friday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.9.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  47. ^ Paulsen (June 13, 2017). "Warriors' Clincher Fourth-Most Watched NBA Game Since '98". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  48. ^ Mitch Metcalf (June 13, 2017). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.12.2017". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on June 14, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  49. ^ Paulsen (June 3, 2016). "Warriors' Rout Most-Watched Game 1 of NBA Finals Since 1998". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  50. ^ Rick Porter (June 3, 2016). "Thursday final ratings: NBA Finals tops 2015's Game 1, 'Big Bang' adjusts up, 'American Grit' down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  51. ^ Paulsen (June 8, 2016). "Game 2 of NBA Finals Holds Up Well Despite Blowout". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  52. ^ Rick Porter (June 8, 2016). "Sunday final ratings: Miss USA adjusts up, plus final NBA numbers". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 8, 2016. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  53. ^ Paulsen (June 9, 2016). "Stinkers Sinking NBA Finals, But Numbers Still Big". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  54. ^ Rick Porter (June 9, 2016). "Wednesday final ratings: NBA Finals adjust up but lowest of series so far". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  55. ^ Paulsen (June 14, 2016). "Closer Game, But No Cigar For NBA Finals". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  56. ^ Rick Porter (June 13, 2016). "Friday final ratings: Final NBA and Copa America numbers, 'Masters of Illusion' adjusts down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 14, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  57. ^ Paulsen (June 14, 2016). "NBA Finals Has Another Viewership Dip, But Nears Post-Jordan High". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  58. ^ Rick Porter (June 14, 2016). "Monday final ratings: 'So You Think You Can Dance' adjusts up, 'Reign' and 'Whose Line' ajdust down, final NBA numbers". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 15, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  59. ^ Paulsen (June 17, 2016). "Despite Fifth Straight Decline, NBA Finals Strong Entering Game 7". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  60. ^ Rick Porter (June 17, 2016). "Thursday final ratings: NBA Finals hits a high for 2016". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 18, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  61. ^ Rick Porter (June 21, 2016). "Sunday final ratings: NBA Finals Game 7 adjusts up a little more". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 22, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2016.

External links