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Numbers Dip for Game 1 of NBA Finals

Jun 10, 2005  •  Post A Comment

With the Los Angeles Lakers failing to make the playoffs, ABC’s broadcast Thursday night of the first game of the NBA Finals drew an 8.8 Nielsen Media Research rating in metered markets and a 15 share, down 11.6/18 from last year.

Ratings for the San Antonio Spurs’ victory over the champion Detroit Pistons were up 9 percent from 2003’s Game 1, when the Lakers weren’t involved. Ratings in Detroit were up 7 percent to a 35.6/52 from last year (33.2/45), when the Pistons played L.A., and ratings in San Antonio were up 3 percent to a 42.9/58 compared with 2003 (41.7/58), when the Spurs were last in the Finals.

The broadcast of Thursday’s game, in which the Spurs defeated the Pistons 87-69 at the SBC Center in San Antonio, posted a metered market rating of 8.8/15, which is 9 percent higher than the last non-Lakers Final Game 1, which delivered an 8.1/13 metered market rating on June 4, 2003. The rating peaked at 9.6 at 11 p.m. (ET) and maintained that number until 11:45 p.m.