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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).

TELECAST
DATE
NET
TIME (ET)
RAT.
VIEWERS (000)
NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Celtics-Knicks: Game Four
4/24
ABC
3:41-6:30pm
4.3
7,020
NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Heat-76ers: Game Four
4/24
ABC
12:53-3:41pm
3.1
5,025
PGA Tour: The Heritage: Final Round
4/24
CBS
3:15-6:30pm
1.9
2,960
MLB: (regional)
4/23
Fox
4:09-7:19pm
1.8
2,794
NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals:
Flyers-Sabres: Game Six
4/24
NBC
3:00-6:32pm
1.4
2,567
PGA Tour: The Heritage: Third Round
4/23
CBS
3:00-6:00pm
1.3
1,801
NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals:
Capitals-Rangers: Game Five
4/23
NBC
3:00-6:00pm
1.0
1,553
"NBA Countdown"
4/24
ABC
12:30-12:56pm
0.8
n/a
National Heads-Up Poker Championship
(taped)
4/24
NBC
12:00-2:00pm
0.7
990
Champions Tour: Liberty Mutual
Legends of Golf: Final Round
4/24
CBS
1:00-3:15pm
0.6
856
Champions Tour: Liberty Mutual
Legends of Golf: Third Round
4/23
CBS
1:00-3:00pm
0.5
639
"ESPN Sports Saturday"
4/23
ABC
4:00-6:00pm
0.5
n/a
Laureus Sports Awards (taped)
4/24
NBC
2:00-3:00pm
0.4
492
TELECAST
DATE
NET
TIME (ET)
RAT.
VIEWERS (000)
NBA Western Conference First Round:
Lakers-Hornets: Game Four
4/24
TNT
9:47pm-12:36am
3.9
6,281
NBA Western Conference First Round:
Lakers-Hornets: Game Two
4/20
TNT
10:45pm-1:29am
3.4
5,352
NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Bulls-Pacers: Game Two
4/18
TNT
9:39pm-12:32am
3.2
4,908
NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Knicks-Celtics: Game Two
4/19
TNT
7:09-9:47pm
3.0
4,730
NBA Western Conference First Round:
Lakers-Hornets: Game Three
4/22
ESPN
9:39pm-12:11am
2.8
4,578
NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Magic-Hawks: Game Four
4/24
TNT
7:09-9:47pm
2.7
4,506
NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Heat-76ers: Game Three
4/21
TNT
8:09-10:44pm
2.5
3,875
NBA Western Conference First Round:
Mavericks-Trail Blazers: Game Two
4/19
TNT
9:47pm-12:12am
2.5
3,846
NBA Western Conference First Round:
Thunder-Nuggets: Game Three
4/23
ESPN
10:19pm-1:07am
2.4
3,664
NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Bulls-Pacers: Game Four
4/23
TNT
2:38-5:22pm
2.2
3,534
 

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).

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