The 2015 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers is the highest-rated NBA Finals ever on ABC through five games in the United States, according to Nielsen.
Sunday’s Game 5 that saw the Warriors take a 3-2 series lead over the Cavaliers delivered a 14.2 overnight rating, which is the highest-rated game of the series and the highest-rated Game 5 on ABC in more than a decade.
According to Nielsen, this year’s NBA Finals ratings are averaging a 13.5 per game, a 27 per cent increase from a 10.6 in last year’s finals.
These numbers are significantly better than the Stanley Cup Finals between the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning. Game 5 on NBC earned a 1.5 rating in the U.S., slightly better than Game 4’s 1.3.
Game 7 of last year’s World Series drew an impressive 13.7 rating, which was the second-highest rated game since 2004.
Of course, none of these numbers hold up to the Super Bowl earlier this year on NBC.
The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks drew an audience of 114.4 million viewers, which made Super Bowl XLIX the most watched broadcast in U.S. TV history.
