NBA and its national TV partners experienced more
ratings success, as ESPN
announced Tuesday that the 2012 playoffs was the network's most-watched
and highest-rated on record, according to Nielsen.
In
21 games, ESPN averaged a 4.5 HH rating, up 25% from last year. ESPN
averaged 6.2 million viewers, also up 25%. ESPN's coverage increased by
double-digits across all key demos: 35% in M18-34 (5.0), 31% in M18-49
(4.6), 29% in M25-54 (4.5), 35% in A18-34 (3.5) and 28% in A18-49 (3.2).
The
record numbers were buoyed by the thrilling seven-game Eastern
Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics, which
recorded the three highest overnight ratings for an NBA game on cable
ever. The series itself averaged 6.2 HH rating, tying it for the
highest-rated conference finals ever on cable. The series averaged 10.1
million viewers as well, a 46% uptick from the network's coverage of
last year's Western Conference Finals.
NBA
content on ESPN.com and ESPN Mobile properties logged an average minute
audience of 71,000, a 22% spike from last year, according to
Adobe/Omniture.
The NBA Finals begin Tuesday at 9 p.m. on ABC.
