TNT’s NBA Western Conference Finals Game 7 Averages 14.8 Million Viewers to Deliver Second Most-Watched NBA Game in Cable TV History & Most-Viewed NBA Game of the Season

WCF Game 7 Scores Most-Watched Sports Program of Weekend;
Combines with TNT’s Inside the NBA to Net Monday’s Top Two Sports Programs

Viewership for TNT’s 2018 WCF Up 51% vs. 2017 ECF & 45% vs. Last Year’s WCF

TNT’s exclusive presentation of 2018 NBA Western Conference Finals Game 7 between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets delivered the second most-watched NBA game in the history of cable television and the most-viewed NBA telecast of the 2018-19 season.  Monday night’s telecast averaged 14.8 million viewers – with a peak of 18 million viewers from 11-11:15 p.m. ET – to garner the top program across all of television (cable and broadcast) over Memorial Day weekend.

The decisive WCF Game 7 telecast combined with TNT’s iconic Inside the NBA studio show to generate the top two sports programs across all of television on Monday night. Inside the NBA averaged 5.7 million viewers for last night’s post-game show, the program’s second most-watched episode of all time.

Overall, TNT’s coverage of the WCF series averaged 9.4 million viewers, up 51% over last year’s Eastern Conference Finals airing on the network (Cavaliers/Celtics) and an increase of 45% vs. the 2017 WCF (Warriors/Spurs).

Additional highlights include:

TNT #1 Network in Primetime
The 2018 NBA Playoffs propelled TNT to cable’s #1 ranking in primetime throughout the past five weeks.  Over that span, TNT won the night across all of television (cable and broadcast) five times and delivered cable TV’s top program 22 times.

Most-Watched NBA Playoffs on TNT Since 2011
The 2018 NBA Playoffs on TNT, with an average of 4.9 million viewers for 42 live game telecasts, generated the network’s most-watched playoffs coverage since 2011. 

Inside the NBA – Top Late Night Show Across All Key Demos
TNT’s iconic Inside the NBA netted a 36% gain based on metered markets during this year’s Conference Finals, while continuing to deliver the most-watched late night show on television across all key demos. 

2018 WCF Garners Significant Growth Across All Demos
TNT’s Warriors/Rockets telecasts have generated double-digit increases across all core demos, including a 38% increase in People 18-34 and 35% in Men 18-34 vs. the comparable 2017 ECF games on TNT.  This year’s WCF is up approximately 50% or higher across all demos vs. last year’s WCF series.

New Houston Record for WCF Game 7
Last night’s WCF Game 7 telecast delivered the best rating on record (22.0 HH rating) in Houston for a Rockets game on TNT.  San Francisco ranked as the top market with a 27.9 rating for last night’s telecast.

Turner’s TVE Platform Sets Record Consumption
Watch TNT, Turner’s TV Everywhere platform for the network, generated an all-time record for total minutes of consumption throughout the WCF series and a new single game record for WCF Game 7.

Significant Increases for Turner’s NBA Social Channels
Content published across NBA on TNT and NBA TV social channels generated a 139% gain in video views and 149% increase in engagements when compared to last year’s corresponding Conference Finals.

Source:  Nielsen Media Research, based on Live + SD fast nationals for 05/28/2018, compared historically to NBA Playoff telecasts on ad supported cable networks. Online TVE Live Stream Starts, Users by Quarter Hour (rounded based on actual game time) from Omniture SiteCatalyst; Mobile TVE Live Stream Starts, Users based on 1-minute qualifier per VHL from Omniture. Connected Device Stream Starts. Users based on 1 minute qualifier per VHL from Omniture. Total TV Minutes are based on Nielsen Live + SD with a 1 min qualifier. Facebook Insights, Twitter Analytics & CrowdTangle.