Well it came very close but last nights Heat 96 – Bulls 85 game 3 did not quite beat out its own record. Coming just shy of 11 million viewers it was the 2nd MOST watched NBA game in cable history. Here are the numbers:
TNT’s exclusive coverage of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals series between the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat continues to draw record ratings for the network. The pivotal game three of the series became the second most-watched NBA game in cable history based on total viewership by delivering10,889,000 million total viewers and a 6.4 U.S. HH rating. TNT’s coverage of the opening game of the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals set the record with 11.1 million total viewers and delivered a 6.2 U.S. HH Rating.
Based on Total Viewership, TNT has delivered the Top 3 All-Time NBA Games on cable:
- Game 1 of the 2011 ECF (Miami at Chicago): 11,109,000 viewers (05-15-2011)
- Game 3 of the 2011 ECF (Chicago at Miami): 10,889,000 viewers (05-22-2011)
- 2003 NBA All-Star Game (Jordan’s Last): 10,829,000 viewers (02-03-2003)
Locally, the top five overnight metered markets for Game #3 of the ECF were Miami (24.9 HH Rtg), Chicago (22.5 HH Rtg), West Palm Beach(12.8 HH Rtg), Memphis (11.1 HH Rtg) and New Orleans (9.7 HH Rtg).
Through three games of TNT’s exclusive coverage of the Eastern Conference Finals, the network has averaged a 6.2 U.S. HH Rating (+35%), 10,667,000 Total Viewers (+42%) and 7,231,000 Households (+37%).
To date, TNT’s overall coverage of the NBA Playoffs continues to climb over the network’s coverage from a year ago, averaging a 3.3 U.S. HH Rating(+27%), 5,273,000 Total Viewers (+33%) and 3,819,000 Households (+30%).
