Thursday Primetime: With coverage of the deciding Game 7 for the 2010 NBA Finals (Celtics-Lakers), ABC towered over Thursday night, beating its combined network competition (CBS, NBC, Fox and CW) during primetime by nearly 2 million viewers and by 58% in Adults 18-49. ABC won all 7 nights with its coverage of the 2010 NBA Finals.
In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC posted its top summer Thursday in more than 18 years – pre-dating the start of Nielsen’s electronic database, in September 1991.
Jimmy Kimmel Live Game Night: On average, ABC’s 2010 JKL Game Night specials jumped year to year by 13%, earning the program’s biggest audience in its 3 years on the air.
During their run, the Game Night specials produced greatly increased sampling and exposure for JKL, more than doubling its results in Viewers (+112%) and Adults 18-49 (+120%) over its late-night 2009-10 TV Season averages.
2010 NBA Finals Game 7: The NBA Finals on ABC – GM 7 (9:04-11:59pm, ET) towered over its primetime competitors to stand as Thursday’s #1 TV program in Total Viewers (28.2 million) and across each of the key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54). It was the 7th consecutive broadcast for the 2010 NBA Finals to rank as the #1 TV show of the evening in viewers and key adults. Claiming their 16th NBA title, the LA Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics by a score of 83-79.
With Game 7, ABC scored its best-ever numbers in eight years of broadcasting the NBA Finals (beginning in 2003) with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In fact on both Nielsen measures, Game 7 of the 2010 championship series registered as the biggest for any NBA Finals telecast in 12 years – since the series-clinching Game 6 of the 1998 Bulls-Jazz series on 6/14/98.
In viewers and young adults, Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals also qualified as TV’s top non-Olympics summer telecast in nearly 10 years – since 8/23/00.
On average, the 2010 NBA Finals produced the championship series’ biggest audience ever on ABC and its 2nd-highest Adult 18-49 numbers. In fact it finished as the most-watched NBA Finals overall in 9 years – since 2001 (Philadelphia-LA Lakers). Versus the 5-game 2009 Lakers-Magic series, The Finals on ABC surged year to year by 3.8
Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings:
(source: ABC)
