Ratings Roundup: ABC Nets Most-Watched NBA Finals Since 1998; NBC Scores Best Non-Original-Six Stanley Cup Final on Record By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Friday, June 16, 2017 - 8:00 am
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Ratings roundup is a rundown of ratings news from the past week and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, ABC notched the most-watched NBA Finals since 1998 (Michael Jordan's last NBA Finals appearance), NBC's 2017 Stanley Cup Final is the most-watched final on record without an Original Six team, Sportsnet's Stanley Cup Playoffs audience was up 94% over last year, Univision's USA/Mexico World Cup Qualifier on June 11 was the most-viewed soccer match on any network this year (regardless of language), and more.
ABC Nets Most-Watched NBA Finals Since 1998
The 2017 NBA Finals on ABC was the most-watched NBA Finals since 1998, when Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls made their last Finals appearance. The five-game series (Warriors 4-1 series win over the Cavs) averaged a total live audience (television plus streaming) of 20,840,000 average viewers, up slightly from 20,578,000 viewers for last year's seven-game series. On television, the series averaged 20,406,000 plus an average minute streaming audience of 434,000 viewers. The Finals also averaged an 11.3 rating, down slightly from last year's seven-game series (11.4) and down 3% from a 2015's six-game series (11.6) - both of which featured the Warriors and Cavs.
Monday's Game 5 broadcast on ABC generated a total live audience of more than 25,003,000 average viewers, making it the most-watched Game 5 since 1998. It peaked with 29,525,000 viewers at 11:30 p.m. ET. The broadcast was up 20% from 20,908,000 for Game 5 in 2016. The audience included 24,466,000 average viewers (P2 ) and an average minute streaming audience of 537,000 viewers (second-most streamed NBA game ever trailing only Game 7 last year).
The NBA Finals on ABC won the night across all of television for the 60th consecutive time. In the San Francisco-Oakland market, the Game 5 broadcast delivered a 39.6 metered market rating and in the Cleveland market it generated a 37.1 rating. The other top local markets include: Columbus (23.3); Sacramento (21.2); Atlanta (21.0); Miami (20.6); Memphis (20.1); Los Angeles (19.1); Chicago (18.6); Richmond (17.7). (ESPN/ABC)
2017 Stanley Cup Final Is Most-Watched Final on Record Without an Original Six Team
The six-game 2017 Stanley Cup Final produced a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 4.762 million average viewers, making it the most-watched Stanley Cup Final on record without an Original Six team (according to Nielsen Fast Nationals and Adobe Analytics).
The Pittsburgh Penguins Championship-clinching Game 6 victory over the Predators on NBC (one June 11) averaged a TAD of 7.086 million viewers, up 29% vs. last year's Cup-clinching Game 6 on NBC featuring Pittsburgh and San Jose (5.476 million).
Across all 84 games on NBC/NBCSN/CNBC/USA Network, the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged a TAD of 1.387 million viewers, up 11% vs. 2016, despite five Canadian teams in this year's Playoffs vs. zero last year. It is the ninth consecutive year that the Playoffs have averaged more than 1.2 million viewers.
The 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app were the most-streamed in history. The 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs delivered more than a half-billion live minutes (527.4 million) and two million uniques, up 31% and 22% vs. the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Despite neither Nashville (#29) nor Pittsburgh (#23) being a Top 20 TV market, the 2017 Stanley Cup Final on NBC/NBCSN averaged 4.762 million viewers, making it the most-watched Final on record without an Original Six team (Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, N.Y. Rangers, and Toronto). Viewership was up 19% vs. the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, which featured the Penguins and the San Jose Sharks. The 2017 Stanley Cup Final averaged a 2.67 HH rating across the six games on NBC/NBCSN, and the TV-only viewership averaged 4.679 million viewers, up 18% and 19%, respectively, vs. the six-game 2016 Final.
Locally, the 2017 Stanley Cup Final averaged a 32.0 rating in Pittsburgh on NBC/NBCSN, up from the market's 31.7 average during the 2016 Penguins-Sharks Stanley Cup Final. Nashville shattered ratings records throughout the playoffs, and averaged a 22.0 in the Stanley Cup Final. Digitally, Pittsburgh and Nashville delivered the most-streamed Stanley Cup Final ever, totaling 760,000 uniques and 97.7 million live minutes, up 38% and 45%, respectively, vs. last year's Cup Final.
Game 6 averaged a TAD of 7.086 million viewers, up 29% vs last year's Game 6. It is only the seventh Stanley Cup Final game to exceed seven million average viewers, and the sixth on NBC. TV-only viewership delivered a 3.88 HH rating and 6.985 million average viewers, up 26% and 29%, respectively, vs. 2016. TV-only viewership peaked with nearly 9.5 million viewers in the 10:45 11 p.m. ET quarter hour (9.406 million), as Pittsburgh broke a scoreless tie late in regulation. When final ratings are released, NBC is expected to win the night in the advertiser coveted Adult 18-49 demographic. Game 6 registered a 40.0 rating in Pittsburgh, to rank as the second-highest rated Penguins game ever in the Pittsburgh market on the networks of NBC, trailing only Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final (42.2). The game also delivered a 28.3 rating in Nashville to rank as the highest-rated Predators game ever in the market on the networks of NBC. All six Stanley Cup Final games were the highest-rated Preds games ever in the market. In addition, three Tennessee markets (Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis) ranked in the Top 10 markets for Game 6; Knoxville ranked third with a 10.7 rating, while Memphis ti
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Ratings Roundup: ABC Nets Most-Watched NBA Finals Since 1998; NBC Scores Best Non-Original-Six Stanley Cup Final on Record By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
