NBA Finals Deliver Sixth Consecutive Ratings Win For ABC
ABC's exclusive coverage of The Finals Game 6 - Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers - delivered a 12.3 overnight rating, propelling the network to win the night in prime time for the sixth straight game. Tuesday's Game 6 broadcast was the highest-rated show of the night for all of television, as was the case for the previous five games.
The Lakers' 89-67 victory forced a decisive Game 7 - only the third NBA Finals Game 7 in the last 22 years - Thursday, June 17, at 9 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN Radio. Mike Breen calls The Finals on ABC with analysts Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy and reporter Doris Burke. Jim Durham provides play-by-play on ESPN Radio with Hall of Famers Hubie Brown and Dr. Jack Ramsay. ABC's GMC Sierra NBA Countdown, with host Stuart Scott and analysts Magic Johnson, Jon Barry and Michael Wilbon, will preview Game 7 at 8:30 p.m.
Through five games of national ratings, The Finals have averaged 16,155,000 viewers and a 9.6 rating, the highest five-game averages since 2004 (Pistons/Lakers). The Finals' viewership is up 13 percent (vs. 14,347,000 viewers) and ratings are up 14 percent (vs. 8.4) vs. last year (Lakers/Magic).
