ABC Shoots to the Top on Sunday with Coverage of the 2011 NBA Finals, Beating Its Combined Competition on CBS, NBC and Fox with Viewers and Adults 18-49.
The Net Generates its Strongest Non-Oscar Sunday Numbers in More Than 5 Years.
Sunday’s No. 1 TV Show in Viewers and Young Adults, The Finals on ABC Stands As the Top-Rated Show of the Evening for 25 Consecutive Telecasts in Adults 18-49.
ABC’s Game 6 of the 2011 NBA Finals Qualifies the Most-Watched in 13 Years.
The 2011 NBA Finals on ABC Game 6 Outdelivers Fox’s Season Finale of “Idol” In Adults 18-49 to Become TV’s Top-Rated Telecast Since the Oscars in February.
On Average, ABC’s 2011 Miami-Dallas NBA Finals is Up Sharply Over the Last Time the Two Teams Met in 2006 to Finish as the Top Non-Seven-Game Series Since 2004.
Sunday Night (7:00-11:00 p.m.)
Driven by its coverage of the 2011 NBA Finals Game 6 (Dallas-Miami), ABC shot to the top of Sunday’s primetime (according to Nielsen’s time-period based “Fast Affiliate Ratings”), outdelivering its combined competition on CBS, NBC and Fox by 22% in Total Viewers (18.0 million vs. 14.7 million) and by 109% in Adults 18-49 (7.3/20 vs. 3.5/10). In fact, the Net ranked No. 1 on all 6 evenings with its broadcasts of the 2011 NBA Finals among young adults (AD18-34/AD18-49) and across all key Men demos (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54).
In viewers and young adults, ABC produced its biggest non-Oscar Sunday in more than 5 years – since 3/12/06.
“2011 NBA Finals on ABC Game 6” (7:59 – 10:48 p.m. E.T.)
Based on Nielsen’s special-ordered program-based “Fast National Ratings,” the series-clinching 2011 NBA Finals on ABC Game 6 (Dallas at Miami) overshadowed the primetime landscape to register as Sunday’s dominant No. 1 TV program in Total Viewers (23.5 million) and across each of the key Adult demographics: A18-34 (9.6 rating), A18-49 (9.5 rating) and A25-54 (9.9 rating). In the advertiser-coveted Adult 18-49 demographic, The Finals on ABC finished as the No. 1 TV program of the night for the 25th straight broadcast. The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat 105-95 to win the franchise’s first-ever NBA championship.
In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, the series-clinching game of 2011 NBA Finals generated the biggest-ever Game 6 results on ABC – since beginning carriage of The Finals in 2003. In fact, it marked the most-watched Game 6 overall for The Finals in 13 years – since the series-ending Game 6 of the 1998 Chicago-Utah match-up on 6/14/98.
Outperforming the season finale of Fox’s “American Idol” in Adults 18-49, Game 6 of the NBA Finals on ABC emerged as TV’s highest-rated telecast since the 2011 Academy Awards on ABC in February – since 2/27/11.
On average, the 2011 NBA Finals outperformed the first six games of last year’s huge Lakers-Celtics match-up among Total Viewers (+5% – 17.3 million vs. 16.4 million), Adults 18-49 (+8% – 7.1 rating vs. 6.6 rating) and Adults 18-34 (+9% – 7.3 rating vs. 6.7 rating), achieving the biggest non-seven-game series since 2004 (Lakers-Pistons). In addition compared to the last time the same two teams met in The Finals in 2006 (also a 6-game series), the 2011 Miami-Dallas NBA Finals was up by wide margins in Total Viewers (+33% – 17.3 million vs. 13.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (+34% – 7.1 rating vs. 5.3 rating).
(Source: ABC – The Nielsen Company (Fast National, Live + Same Day Program Ratings), 6/12/11)
