On The Eastern Front: Heat-Celtics Delivering Record Numbers For ESPN

ESPN earned a 7.6 overnight Nielsen rating for last night's Celtics-Heat NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game Five, marking the net's second best NBA overnight ever behind Sunday night's Game Four. That figure is up from a 38% from  a 5.5 overnight for the net's Mavericks-Thunder Game Five last year, and flat compared to TNT's Heat-Bulls series-clinching Game Five last year.

FINAL NUMBERS: ESPN's telecast of Heat-Celtics Game Four earned a 6.8 U.S. Nielsen rating, marking the highest-rated NBA game ever on cable TV. The broadcast had an audience of 11.07 million viewers, which is an ESPN record, but below the cable TV record of 11.11 million viewers set by TNT's Heat-Bulls Eastern Conference Finals Game One last year. Meanwhile, TNT earned a 5.5 U.S. rating and 8.5 million viewers for Thunder-Spurs on Monday night, marking the net's best audience for a Western Conference Finals Game Five. Through five games, TNT is averaging a 4.8 U.S. rating and 7.5 million viewers, down 23% and 28%, respectively, from the net's record-setting Heat-Bulls series last year, but up 12% and 8%, respectively, from ESPN's Mavericks-Thunder series last year.