Final Nielsen Ratings From Recent Sports Telecasts

NBA Playoff telecasts led all sports telecasts last week. ABC's Sunday NBA doubleheader topped broadcast TV sports for the weekend with Celtics-Knicks Game Four (7.0 million viewers) and Heat-76ers Game Four (5.0 million viewers). NBA games also took each of the top 10 spots for the most-viewed sports telecasts on cable TV last week, with TNTs Lakers-Hornets Game Four leading the way with 6.3 million viewers. NBC averaged 1.6 million viewers for Sunday's Flyers-Sabres NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game Six, marking the most-viewed NHL non-Conference Final game in 12 years. The net also averaged 1.6 million viewers for the Capitals-Rangers Game Five from Saturday (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).

SKATING AT FULL STRENGTH: Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia averaged a 12.6 local rating and 383,000 HHs in the Philadelphia market for Flyers-Sabres Game Seven, marking the most-watched Flyers game in the channel's history. The previous record was set by Game Seven of last year's Flyers-Bruins Eastern Conference Semifinal. CSN Philadelphia through the first round is averaging a 7.8 local rating for its Flyers playoff coverage, up 47% from last year (CSN). NESN earned a 17.7 local rating in Boston on Wednesday night for Bruins-Canadiens Game Seven, marking a Bruins single-game ratings record on the net. NESN's seven telecasts for the series averaged an 11.9 local rating, marking the net's highest-rated Bruins playoff series ever (NESN). Sun Sports earned a 4.5 local rating in the Tampa-St. Pete market on Wednesday night for Lightning-Penguins Game Seven, marking the highest-rated Lightning playoff game on the net in eight years (TAMPABAY.com, 4/29).

SUPER TUESDAY: CSN Chicago earned its highest-ever local rating in the Chicago market on Tuesday, when it aired Game Five of the Bulls-Pacers First Round series, Game Seven of the Canucks-Blackhawks Western Conference Quarterfinal series and White Sox-Yankees on CSN+. Canucks-Blackhawks earned a 13.3 local rating, the net's highest-ever Blackhawks rating, exceeding the record set by Game Six of the series last Sunday. Bulls-Pacers earned a 10.9 local rating, the net's second-highest Bulls rating ever, behind a 13.7 rating for Game Three of the series (CSN). CSN Chicago averaged around 467,000 HHs for the Blackhawks telecast and 383,000 HHs for the Bulls telecast (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/28).

LOVING THEIR GAMES: TNT through Tuesday was delivering the most-watched and highest-rated NBA playoffs in league history on cable. The net also was delivering double-digit growth in affluent viewers with a household income of $100K+ or $125K+ across adults 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54. The growth for both affluent categories is the most of any pro sports league for the playoffs or regular season. Additionally, NBA TV's Grizzlies-Spurs Game Five on Wednesday night averaged 835,000 viewers, marking the net's most-viewed program this season. By comparison, the net's viewership for the non-exclusive coverage of Grizzlies-Spurs was up 131% over ESPN's non-exclusive coverage of A's-Angels on the same night (THE DAILY).