ABC's 13.4 rating for Warriors-Raptors last night is up 37% from Friday night's Game 4NBAE/GETTY IMAGES
ABC drew a 13.4 overnight for the Warriors' 106-105 win over the Raptors in Game 5 of the NBA Finals last night. Last year's Warriors-Cavaliers series was a sweep, and the clinching Game 5 in that same series two years ago drew a 16.0 overnight, which marked the best Game 5 since Bulls-Jazz in '98. Game 5 in the first two Warriors-Cavaliers Finals in '16 and '15 both drew a 14.2 (starting in '16, Game 5 switched from a Sunday night to a Monday night). In '14, the clinching Spurs-Heat Game 5 drew an 11.7 overnight. Last night's game peaked at a 16.2 rating from 11:30-11:45pm ET and will give ABC a primetime win for the 69th straight night that an NBA Finals game has aired on the network. The game drew a 32.8 local rating in the S.F.-Oakland-San Jose market. The 13.4 rating also is up 37% from Friday night's Game 4. Typically, that increase is around 8%. Warriors-Raptors last night is ABC's fifth-best NBA Finals Game 5 since it acquired rights prior to the '02-03 season. Among the 96 Finals games that ABC has aired, last night's game is the 16th-best overnight (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
GETTING BENCHED: In DC, Ben Strauss cites a source as saying that NBA TV's "The Starters" will not be renewed for the '19-20 season. The 30-minute show, hosted by Tas Melas, Leigh Ellis, Trey Kerby and Phil Elder, debuted on NBA TV in '13, airing weeknights at 6:00pm ET. The contracts of the four hosts, as well as producers Jason Doyle and Matt Osten, run through this summer, though it is "unclear if the hosts will continue to appear on NBA TV after the NBA Finals." The four hosts have had "initial discussions with other media companies." One source "believed the move is part of a larger cost-cutting directive from AT&T" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/11).
