Heat-Mavericks NBA Finals Audience Remains On Par With Lakers-Celtics Last Year

ABC earned a 9.1 final Nielsen rating and 15.3 million viewers for its coverage of Heat-Mavericks NBA Finals Game Three, down 5.2% and 3.9%, respectively, from a 9.6 rating and 16.0 million viewers for Lakers-Celtics Game Three last year. All three '11 NBA Finals telecasts have now been the highest-rated programs on their respective nights. ABC through three games is averaging a 9.1 rating and 15.3 million viewers, flat in ratings and up slightly in viewership compared to Lakers-Celtics last year. This year's audience is also tied with '10 as the most-viewed NBA Finals through three games since the Pistons-Lakers series in ’04. The Heat-Mavericks series is up 15.2% from a 7.9 average rating through three games in ’06, when the NBA Finals featured the same matchup (Austin Karp, THE DAILY). DAILY VARIETY's Rick Kissell noted on a "night when its broadcast rivals" offered repeats, ABC "had no problem rolling to a ratings victory behind the tight third game of the NBA Finals on Sunday" (VARIETY.com, 6/6). Meanwhile, Game Three earned a 26.7 rating in Dallas-Ft. Worth, "about three or four points below what the average Cowboys regular-season game draws" in the market (CHRON.com, 6/6). 

BOOTH TO THE BENCH: The Warriors yesterday hired ESPN/ABC NBA analyst Mark Jackson, who has "no head-coaching experience," as the team's third head coach in as many seasons. Jackson will continue to call the NBA Finals for ESPN/ABC and will be "introduced to the Bay Area media Friday, if his NBA Finals travel schedule permits." He will assume his head coaching duties at the conclusion of the Finals (S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/7).