NBA Finals Ratings Roundup: Game 7 Generates Record Numbers on ESPN, TSN, Digital Platforms

The final numbers for the NBA Finals are in and they are impressive across several platforms. The heat’s dramatic Game 7 victory over the Spurs in the NBA Finals on ABC delivered 26,319,000 viewers, the second biggest audience ever for an NBA game on ABC. Viewership for the game telecast, which produced a final national household rating of 15.3, peaked from 11:30-11:45 p.m. ET with an average of 34,247,000 million viewers.

Overall, this year’s Finals averaged 17,667,000 viewers, marking the second-highest figure since 2004 and a 5% increase from 2012 (16,855,000 viewers). The seven-game ratings average for the 2013 NBA Finals was a 10.5…

…In addition, Game 7 on ESPN Deportes delivered the most-watched, highest-rated NBA game ever on Spanish Language TV, delivering a 2.8 Hispanic household coverage rating with an audience of 268,700 viewers (P2+). ESPN Deportes won the night among all Hispanic cable networks in households, viewers, and all key Hispanic male and adult demos during primetime television.

Game 6 of The Finals also broke records as the second highest-rated and second most-watched NBA game ever on ESPN Deportes. The game averaged a 2.1Hispanic household coverage rating with 207,300 Hispanic P2+ viewers, replacing Game 5 of the 2009 Western Conference Finals between the Lakers and Nuggets (1.9 Hispanic household coverage rating / 124,900P2+ viewers).

A total of 14,994,000 Hispanics (P2+) tuned-in to ESPN Deportes and ABC’s telecasts of The Finals over the first six games, and 1,215,000 Hispanics watched exclusively on ESPN Deportes.  Over the 7 games, The Finals averaged a 1.6 Hispanic household coverage rating on ESPN Deportes, averaging 142,000 Hispanic viewers (P2+)…

… NBA TV’s NBA GameTime pre- and post-game coverage during The Finals was up 28% among total viewers compared with last year.  This year’s average of 186,000 total viewers for pre- and post-game coverage was a new record for the network…

…Game 7 also drew a massive audience north of the border, as Game 7 was watched by an average audience of 890,000 viewers in Canada, making it the most-watched NBA game on Canadian television since 2010. The game ranks as the second most-watched NBA game ever on TSN, just behind Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals featuring Los Angeles and Boston (1.1 million viewers). Overall, 3.7 million Canadians watched some part of the game on TSN last night. Audience levels for the game peaked with 1.45 million viewers in the final minutes of the game as LeBron James and the Miami Heat held on to win the dramatic series on home court…

…Game 7 also drew huge numbers on broadband and mobile platforms for ESPN, as ESPN3 logged its largest NBA game ever with more than 32 million total minutes and an average minute audience of 189,000 across computers, smartphones, tablets, Xbox and Apple TV.  Additionally, NBA content across ESPN digital platforms generated over 115 million total minutes, the largest single day of the NBA Playoffs and nearly half of which were consumed on mobile properties.  NBA content on ESPN.com also logged an average minute audience of 25,000 (up 64 percent compared to Games 1-6)…

…NBA Digital also generated all-time cross-platform consumption records during the 2013 NBA Finals. NBA.com garnered more than 646 million page views during this year’s Finals, up 57% vs. last year.  The site also accumulated more than 434 million video streams, up 120% when compared with the 2012 Finals. NBA Mobile experienced all-time records among page views and video streams.  This year’s NBA Finals registered more than 138 million page views, domestically, up 91% vs. 2012.  NBA Mobile also saw a total of 4.5 million video streams during the 2013 NBA Finals, up 126% over last year. Additionally, downloads for the league’s signature NBA Game Time app were up 111% compared with the 2012 NBA Finals…

…The NBA Finals also set records for ESPN Deportes’ social platforms. Game 7 of the NBA Finals on ESPN Deportes was the second most commented on program of the day across all networks. On Thursday, there were 118K unique tweets (4.8% share) and 327K tweets (3.65% share) about Game 7 on ESPN Deportes. Game 6 was the fourth most tweeted about program with 82K unique tweets and 241K tweets referencing Game 6 on the network.