The
New York Knicks‘ first
NBA title in 53 years delivered the biggest audience for the
NBA Finals in 28 years.
Saturday’s deciding fifth game averaged 24.5 million viewers on
ABC and
ESPN, the third game in a row to draw more than 20 million. The last time the finals drew 20 million-plus viewers over three consecutive contests was in 2016, for the final three games of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ comeback victory over the Golden State Warriors. The telecast was also the most watched game five since the 1998 NBA Finals, which marked Michael Jordan’s last championship with the Chicago Bulls.
The series as a whole delivered 20.6 million viewers, the biggest audience for the NBA Finals since, once again, 1998 — which means it’s also the best showing ever for the finals on ABC. The network took over rights to the NBA’s championship series in 2003. (Nielsen has also made several changes to the way it measures ratings over that time, including adding out of home viewing and a big data component to its sample, both of which have been beneficial to live sports broadcasts.)
www.hollywoodreporter.com