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Broadcasting & Cable
Broadcasting & Cable
Business
Daniel Frankel

NBA Finals Opener Endures Worst Non-Pandemic Ratings Performance Since 2007

NBA Finals Game 1 2024.

The Boston Celtics' easy win over the Dallas Mavericks Thursday on ABC produced an average of just 10.99 million viewers, making it the worst audience scorer for a non-pandemic-year NBA Finals Game 1 since the mid-market San Antonio Spurs embarked on a lopsided sweep of a young LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2007. 

The viewership was down 5% from last year's also-tepid Game 1 Finals, which featured Denver beating Miami. And it was the sixth worst rated Finals opener in the entire era of Nielsen audience measurement. Thursday night's game did outpace the 2020 "Bubble Finals" Game 1 and the 2021 opener, which was also impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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