Thursday will mark the 70th straight time that an NBA Finals game has won the night for ABCnbae/getty images
ABC drew a 13.2 overnight rating for the Raptors’ clinching victory over the Warriors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Thursday. The last Game 6 was in ’16 -- Cavaliers-Warriors -- and drew a 14.1 rating. The same matchup in ’15 drew a 15.9 for the Warriors’ Game 6 clincher. The last non-Warriors Game 6 was Heat-Spurs in ’13, which drew a 14.7 on a Tuesday night. The clinching Warriors-Cavaliers Game 4 on a Friday night last year drew an 11.2. Thursday night’s game will mark the 70th straight time that an NBA Finals game has won the night for ABC. These figures also do not include any Canadian market numbers, and Game 6 is likely to set records in the country. The S.F.-Oakland-San Jose market drew a 32.6 local rating last night. Game 6 peaked at a 17.5 last night. For the entire playoffs, ABC/ESPN averaged a 5.1 overnight, up slightly from a 5.0 the past two postseasons. ABC/ESPN also averaged a 2.4 overnight for the regular season and playoffs this season, up slightly from a 2.3 for the complete ’17-18 season (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
COMING OFF THE BENCH: ESPN has refuted a Sports By Brooks report that Michelle Beadle, Chauncey Billups and Paul Pierce will not return to "NBA Countdown" next season, and SI.com's Jimmy Traina noted ESPN is the "king at making everything it does feel important," but the net "hasn't been able to do that" with its pregame show. The net has "built a relationship with Kobe Bryant thanks to his ESPN+ show, 'Detail.'" Traina wrote should ESPN be in the market for new co-hosts for "Countdown," he is the "first person I'm going after and I'm not stopping until he says yes." Traina: "The guy is a quote machine who is not shy about voicing his opinions. The second person I'm offering a Countdown spot to is Richard Jefferson, who has been a standout on various shows during this postseason" (SI.com, 6/13).
BEST IN THE BIZ: The NEW YORKER's David Remnick wrote ESPN's Doris Burke is the "smartest, best prepared, most original on-air voice" in all of basketball. She is "as insightful about the stratagems taking shape on the court as she is about the emotional currents in the locker room." Burke's style is "hardly flamboyant," as she "doesn't have a memorable or eccentric voice." She is "earnest, prepped and serious," and she is "determined to succeed on the basis of substance, agree with her or not" (NEWYORKER.com, 6/13).
