TV ratings: Game 5 of the NBA Finals is up in early numbers
The San Antonio Spurs earned revenge against the Miami Heat, and the NBA Finals continued its ratings winning streak.
The fifth and deciding game of the NBA Finals on ABC scored a household rating of 11.7 in Nielsen’s 56 metered markets, dominating broadcast television Sunday night.
The household rating for the games, which the Spurs won, 104-87, was up about 3% from last year’s Game 5 between the same teams. Last year’s series lasted seven games and resulted in a victory for the Heat.
Accurate national viewership and demographic numbers for the series closer won’t be available until later Monday. The same goes for stats from HBO’s highly anticipated “Game of Thrones” Season 4 finale. Last week’s episode of the fantasy epic brought in 6.9 million viewers to its 9 p.m. airing.
Sunday marks the 42nd consecutive win across all television for an NBA Finals game. For the NBA championship game, the top markets were San Antonio (42.6), Miami (27.6), Austin (22.0), Oklahoma City (17.7) and West Palm Beach (17.1).
Elsewhere on television, Fox had animated reruns and a new episode of the military comedy “Enlisted” that drew just 1.2 million viewers overall and a rating of 0.4 in the key 18-49 demographic.
NBC’s canceled series had a soft pull too. The last episode of “Believe” delivered 3.1 million viewers and a 0.7 in the key demo, down 22% from its most recent original two weeks ago, while “Crisis” fell 13% to a 0.7.
Follow Ryan Faughnder on Twitter: @rfaughnder
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