ABC announced that overnight numbers for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, in which the Golden State Warriors rallied to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime, set a network record.
The game’s 12.9 overnight rating, based on Nielsen data, made it the highest-rated NBA Finals Game 1 ever on ABC. The game was up 24% from last year, when the Miami Heat-San Antonio Spurs clash delivered a 10.4.
Coverage of the NBA Finals was expected to win the night for the 43rd consecutive time, the network noted.
“Game 1 on ABC delivered a 41.4 rating in the Cleveland market and a 28.9 in the San Francisco market. Both are the highest-rated NBA games on ABC ever in the respective markets,” the network noted.
Here are the top 10 local markets:
- Cleveland: 41.4
- San Francisco: 28.9
- Columbus: 21.1
- Memphis: 19.9
- Norfolk: 16.5
- Miami-Ft. Lauderdale: 16.2
- Sacramento: 15.7
- Atlanta: 15.6
- Richmond-Petersburg: 15.2
- Raleigh-Durham: 15.0
Game 2 of the Finals is set for Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, with “NBA Countdown” scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

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