Last night’s Warriors-Cavs thriller set a NBA Finals Game 1 rating record
June 5, 2015 - 7:54 am
The Golden State Warriors’ 108-100 overtime victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers delivered a 12.9 overnight rating, making it the highest-rated NBA Finals Game 1 ever on ABC.
The broadcast on Thursday night peaked with a 15.6 from 11:30 p.m.-11:45 p.m. ET, according to Nielsen numbers released Friday.
The first game of the best-of-seven series also was up 24 percent from a 10.4 for last year’s Game 1 when the Miami Heat played the San Antonio Spurs.
Thursday’s game also is expected to win the night across television for the 43rd consecutive time.
Game 1 delivered a 41.4 rating in the Cleveland market and a 28.9 in the San Francisco market. Both are the highest-rated NBA games ever shown on ABC in the respective markets. Game 1 was played at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
“NBA Countdown” — ABC’s NBA Finals pregame show — generated a 4.6 overnight rating, which is up 18 percent from 3.9 for the corresponding show leading into Game 1 in 2014.