NBA Conference Finals: ESPN Up With Heat-Celts, While TNT Down

TNT is averaging a 4.7 U.S. rating (7.4 million viewers) through three games of the Spurs-Thunder NBA Western Conference Finals, down 24% from the net’s record-setting Heat-Bulls series last year, which was averaging a 6.2 rating (10.7 million viewers) through three games. Spurs-Thunder is up 15% from the first three games of ESPN’s Mavericks-Thunder Western Conference Finals last year (4.1 rating, 6.7 million viewers). Last night’s Spurs-Thunder Game Three earned a 4.7 rating (7.1 million viewers), down from a 6.4 rating for the comparable Heat-Bulls Game Three, which aired on a Sunday night.

ESPN finished with a 6.6 U.S. rating (8.8 million viewers) for Celtics-Heat Game Two on Wednesday night, up 50% from a 4.4 rating (7.0 million viewers) for the comparable Mavericks-Thunder Game Two. That figure is also up 8% from TNT’s Heat-Bulls Game Two last year.