NBA Finals on ABC: Matches Last Year as Highest-Rated Game 5 Since 2004
- Most-Watched NBA Game Ever on WatchESPN Across Metrics
- The NBA Finals on ABC Expected to Win the Night Across Television for 53rd Consecutive Time
Last night’s NBA Finals Game 5 – the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors by 15 points (112-97) – matched last year’s Game 5 with a 14.2 overnight rating, according to Nielsen. This is the highest-rated Game 5 since 2004 (Detroit Pistons-L.A. Lakers clincher, 15.5).
The telecast peaked with a 16.2 overnight rating from 11:30-11:45 p.m. ET. The NBA Finals on ABC is expected to win the night across all of television for the 53rd consecutive time.
WatchESPN Records
Monday’s NBA Finals Game 5 was the most-watched NBA game ever on WatchESPN across metrics. It generated a record 1,187,000 million unique viewers, an average minute audience of 380,000 viewers and approximately 67 million total minutes streamed.
Top local markets on ABC: Game 5
| Market | Rating |
| Cleveland | 38.5 |
| San Francisco-Oakland* | 36.9 |
| Sacramento | 20.4 |
| Miami | 20.1 |
| Columbus | 19.6 |
| Memphis | 19.4 |
| Atlanta | 19.1 |
| San Antonio | 18.0 |
| Portland | 17.5 |
| Birmingham | 16.4 |
*The 36.9 rating in San Francisco-Oakland is the second-highest rated NBA game ever in the market on ABC.
The 2016 NBA Finals on ABC will continue with Game 6 on Thursday, June 16, 2016, at 9 p.m. ET (coverage starting at 8:30 p.m.). The NBA Finals is also available on ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN and ESPN Radio.
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Media contact: Ben Cafardo at 860-766-3496 or [email protected] (@Ben_ESPN).
