Last night’s game seven of the NBA Finals was a game for the ages. Watching LeBron James and co. come down from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the 73-9 Warriors, bringing the Cleveland Cavaliers their first ever championship.
It felt like everybody had their eyes glued to their television screens, and the ratings reflect that. From CNN’s Frank Pallotta:
The Cleveland Cavaliers thrilling 93-89 win over the Golden State Warriors brought in 30.8 million viewers on Sunday night, the network said.
The telecast peaked with 44.5 million viewers from 10:30 pm to 10:40 pm ET when the Cavaliers wrapped up the victory.
This makes the much anticipated showdown the most watched NBA game since 1998 when Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz.
The seven game series averaged 20.1 million viewers for ABC making it the most-watched NBA Finals since 1998.
The game was a huge draw in the hometown markets of the two teams. Roughly 46% of Cleveland homes were tuned into the game while roughly 40% were in San Francisco.
…
The rating for game 7 is even more impressive considering that it was scheduled against an eagerly awaited episode of “Game of Thrones” among other Sunday night programming.
In terms of viewership, the NBA playoffs have had numerous standout moments and records.
For example, TNT’s game 7 of the NBA’s Western Conference Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder was cable’s most watched NBA telecast of all time last month.
Wow. The highest-rated NBA game since 1998, and the highest-rated game seven ever. That’s pretty incredible.
