ESPN Airs Second Most-Watched Conference Finals Ever

The 2014 Eastern Conference Finals, in which the Miami Heat defeated the Indiana Pacers to advance to the NBA Finals, is the second most-watched Conference Finals ever on ESPN, according to Nielsen. The six-game series averaged 7,234,000 viewers (p2+), up 48 percent from the network's coverage of the Conference Finals last year (4,898,000). Additionally, the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals averaged a 4.5 U.S. household rating, up 45 percent from last year's corresponding series (3.1).

The success of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals propelled ESPN to win the night across all of television - cable and broadcast - for Game Three on Saturday, May 24, and for Game Four on Monday, May 26. ESPN won the night in all key male demos and in the coveted P18-34 demo for every Eastern Conference Finals game on the network (Game Two through Game Six).

The Eastern Conference Finals on ESPN also experienced triple-digit growth on WatchESPN with a year over year increase of 246 percent vs. last year. Game Two saw the largest audience of the entire NBA regular season and playoffs on WatchESPN with 282,000 unique viewers and 13.5 million total minutes consumed.

The 2014 NBA Finals will tip off on ABC this Thursday, June 5, at 9 p.m. ET as the two-time reigning NBA Champion Miami Heat face the San Antonio Spurs in a rematch of last year's Finals. For more NBA Finals coverage details, visit ESPNMediaZone.com.