Cleveland’s NBA Finals Victory Draws Record Audience for ABC

[Tugg Speedman]

Cleveland's NBA Finals Victory Draws Record Audience for ABC

Game 7 was most-watched sporting event on ABC, ESPN since 2006
Cliffhanger final also sets record for WatchESPN mobile app

The Cleveland Cavaliers' cliffhanger victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the NBA finals was the most-watched sports telecast on Walt Disney Co.'s ABC or ESPN in a decade, underscoring the pull of live sports for audiences and advertising.

Sunday's game, in which LeBron James led the Cavaliers to their first National Basketball Association title, drew an 18.9 overnight rating, also making it the highest-rated game ever for the league on ABC, the network said Monday in a statement, citing Nielsen data.

The big audience was notable because the game competed with the much-anticipated penultimate episode of season six of HBO's "Game of Thrones." Almost a fifth of the 116.4 million U.S. TV households tuned in to the game, based on the preliminary data.

Sunday's game eclipsed the audience for Game 7 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics in 2010, which had been the highest-rated game ever on ABC. The Cavaliers-Warriors matchup was also the most-watched NBA game to date on ESPN's mobile app, WatchESPN.

[tower912]

And it lived up to it.   

[mu03eng]

Which will invariably lead ABC/ESPN to draw the wrong conclusion about how fans intake sports and sports commentary. This result is the type of thing that will cause the live sports content bubble to pop in a couple of years.

[Benny B]

Which will invariably lead ABC/ESPN to draw the wrong conclusion about how fans intake sports and sports commentary. This result is the type of thing that will cause the live sports content bubble to pop in a couple of years.

One should not discount the impact on the ratings that broadcast has.  I'm interested in how many cord-cutters tuned into this game.

[Tugg Speedman]

One should not discount the impact on the ratings that broadcast has.  I'm interested in how many cord-cutters tuned into this game.

Record number of WatchESPN views ... that is your answer

[mu03eng]

Record number of WatchESPN views ... that is your answer

Not really, game was on ABC so cord cutters could have watched over the air. So your number is a good indicator but it doesn't truly capture the size of the cord cutter volume.

[Goose]

While I was pulling for the Warriors, I have to say it was a great game. Watched the game with Chinese announcers and missed out on much of the post game coverage but was pretty jacked up watching. FWIW the game was the talk of every Chinese person I talked to yesterday. They love the NBA and won't let go the Jordan Bulls.

[rocket surgeon]

While I was pulling for the Warriors, I have to say it was a great game. Watched the game with Chinese announcers and missed out on much of the post game coverage but was pretty jacked up watching. FWIW the game was the talk of every Chinese person I talked to yesterday. They love the NBA and won't let go the Jordan Bulls.

great game, great series, lebron breaks all the records(points, rebounds, steals, assists) for a championship series.  further solidifies his status as one of the very best, then...breaks his arm only to recover to make 1 of 2 freethrows, fricken floods the floor crying like a baby after the game, continues to cry in post game interview and says something to the effect of "i don't know why THE MAN ABOVE gives me the hardest road, but..."???? 

     ok ok, i'll give him the benefit of having emotion over run him , but come on man!!  and i'm not going to get into a gazillion others who have had a HARD ROAD, but someone puhleeze reign the king'er in

[MU82]

great game, great series, lebron breaks all the records(points, rebounds, steals, assists) for a championship series.  further solidifies his status as one of the very best, then...breaks his arm only to recover to make 1 of 2 freethrows, fricken floods the floor crying like a baby after the game, continues to cry in post game interview and says something to the effect of "i don't know why THE MAN ABOVE gives me the hardest road, but..."???? 

     ok ok, i'll give him the benefit of having emotion over run him , but come on man!!  and i'm not going to get into a gazillion others who have had a HARD ROAD, but someone puhleeze reign the king'er in

rocket:

I actually was a lot more taken aback by the God/road reference than I was by the crying (lots of stars have done so after winning championships, including MJ multiple times) or the arm/wrist injury (which I'm pretty sure he thought was serious the first few minutes after it happened).

He hasn't faced a hard road for at least 15 years, and I'm pretty sure he didn't face a very hard road even a few years before that. It was a dopey comment, and showed the same lack of awareness that The Decision did.

Still, like you, I'll chalk it up to the emotion of the moment. Much of what he said in that interview was unintelligible, and that was just part of it. He's a smart guy, too, so it shows just how emotion can affect us. I mean, seriously, when the middle-school basketball team I coach won our conference title for the first time in school history a few months ago, I shed a few tears and said a couple of incoherent things, too. It happens to both mere mortals like me and demigods like LeBron.

[rocket surgeon]

rocket:

I actually was a lot more taken aback by the God/road reference than I was by the crying (lots of stars have done so after winning championships, including MJ multiple times) or the arm/wrist injury (which I'm pretty sure he thought was serious the first few minutes after it happened).

He hasn't faced a hard road for at least 15 years, and I'm pretty sure he didn't face a very hard road even a few years before that. It was a dopey comment, and showed the same lack of awareness that The Decision did.

Still, like you, I'll chalk it up to the emotion of the moment. Much of what he said in that interview was unintelligible, and that was just part of it. He's a smart guy, too, so it shows just how emotion can affect us. I mean, seriously, when the middle-school basketball team I coach won our conference title for the first time in school history a few months ago, I shed a few tears and said a couple of incoherent things, too. It happens to both mere mortals like me and demigods like LeBron.

congrats on the coaching-i remember taking my sons 7th grade team from day one of misfits to winning "some" games.  looking back on what we started out with and where we ended up , the growth and improvement was amazing.  btw, i was just one of 2 assistants, but i get what you're saying. 

i was probably a little over the top with my analysis, but, ok, these guys do go thru A LOT.  there is a tremendous amount of pressure from the media, egos, etc.  they also set their bars high.  they also get $$$ accordingly. i am sure there are many who would love to try to take that "hard road" too.   next stop-"space jam II" ?? 

[Tugg Speedman]

@darrenrovell
200 different commercials ran during the NBA Finals, more than 1 out of every 3 spots was for insurance, according to @ispottv


What happened to Viagra?

[Eldon]

@darrenrovell
200 different commercials ran during the NBA Finals, more than 1 out of every 3 spots was for insurance, according to @ispottv


What happened to Viagra?

Hard to say

[rocket surgeon]

@darrenrovell
200 different commercials ran during the NBA Finals, more than 1 out of every 3 spots was for insurance, according to @ispottv


What happened to Viagra?

great observation-i always wondered about products like this-who the heck doesn't know about viagra and cialis, et.al. and when does advertizing become a waste of revenue?  i mean, i think they've advertised so much that most people can recite the damn commercials in their sleep...don't drink to excess and if you're still walking around with "mr. big" after 4 hours, call your doctor?  what's your doctor gonna do?  hopefully your doc is a sweet lookin female or something then ey'na? what's the alternatives?