Game 6 of the NBA Finals Drew Huge TV Ratings

The first four games of the NBA Finals were lukewarm when it came to television ratings. Then things ramped up as the series moved into the latter stages, culminating in last night’s classic. It was one of the highest rated games in NBA Finals history. Per the press release: “The Miami Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs to even the series in an overtime thriller – scored a 14.7 overnight rating, according to Nielsen. This is the second highest-rated NBA Finals Game 6 ever on ABC and the fourth highest rated game ever on the network. Game 6 is also expected to mark the 36th consecutive time an NBA Finals telecast has won the night for all of television and is the 24th straight time it has delivered double-digit overnight ratings. The game peaked at a 19.8 rating from 11:45 p.m. – 12 a.m. ET. Last night’s game trails only Boston Celtics-Los Angeles Lakers Game 7 in 2010 (18.2), Los Angeles Lakers-Detroit Pistons Game 5 in 2004 (15.5) and Miami Heat-Dallas Mavericks Game 6 in 2011 (15.0). NBA Finals Game 6 scored strong local ratings with a 47.6 metered market rating in San Antonio and a 35.4 in Miami. In addition, ABC’s Kia NBA Countdown pre-game show delivered a strong 4.4 overnight rating, up 16 percent from the pre-game show prior to 2011 NBA Finals Game 6 (3.8).”