An 11.2 overnight rating for Warriors-Cavaliers Game 4 was down 11% from a 12.6 last yearNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
The Warriors’ win on Friday night drew an 11.2 overnight rating on ABC, marking the lowest-rated of any of the 22 NBA Finals games over the last four years, all of which had the same matchup. Game 4 is down 11% from a 12.6 last year. In '14, which was the last year before the recent run of Warriors-Cavs NBA Finals, Spurs-Heat Game 4 on a Thursday night drew a 10.6 overnight. The last NBA Finals sweep was in '07, with the Spurs' Game 4 win over the Cavs drawing a 7.8 overnight on a Thursday night. The Game 4 telecast this year won primetime for ABC for the 64th straight time that it has had a Finals game. The four-game series on ABC averaged a 12.2 overnight (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
ON THE AIRWAVES: In Charlotte, Langston Wertz wrote with a game that "wasn’t very entertaining, fans seemed to turn their ire towards ABC’s announce team of Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy." Play-by-play man Mike Breen was "doing a solid job, but a lot of people seemed to want to move Doris Burke off the sideline reporter gig and onto the big stage" (CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.com, 6/8). Asked if he believed Burke would be ESPN's top NBA analyst one day, Breen said, "Someday she will be. She is that good." He added, "Doris is one of the premier analysts in any sport and I have watched her from the beginning. ... She will be the lead analyst some day. I don't know when. But whoever does get to work with her at some point whether it is me or someone else is going to be very fortunate" (THEATHLETIC.com, 6/11).
ON THE MEND: In N.Y., Fred Kerber noted ESPN Radio analyst Hubie Brown was "forced out of his duties" for the Game 4 broadcast when he "suffered a knee injury" before the game. An ESPN spokesperson said that Brown, 84, was "'in good spirits' and had been treated by medical personnel on site after he banged his knee" (N.Y. POST, 6/9).
