ESPN's coverage of 2026 NBA Finals is setting ratings records for ABC
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The stunning victory by the New York Knickerbockers over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday gave ABC the most-watched NBA Finals Game 4 since 1998, the year of Michael Jordan’s last championship with the Chicago Bulls.Nielsen data showed an average of 20.9 million viewers watched the Knicks overcome a 29-point halftime deficit to top Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs 107-106 at Madison Square Garden, the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history.The Knicks have a 3-1 lead in the series and will play Game 5 on Saturday in San Antonio, attempting to win their first NBA championship in 53 years.Through the first four games, the NBA Finals are averaging 19.6 million viewers, also the highest since the Bulls-Utah Jazz faced off on NBC in 1998.
The series is on track to become the most-watched since the NBA Finals moved to ABC and ESPN in 2002.“The match-up is ideal from a media business standpoint, featuring the nation’s largest media market with New York, teams with robust followings and multiple all-stars, especially Wemby, the compelling new face of the NBA,” said Lee Berke, president of LHB Sports Entertainment & Media, Inc.The Knicks-Spurs series is up 116% over the first four games of last year’s match-up between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers.
But the most encouraging numbers for ABC and ESPN is the growth among younger viewers, who have become harder to reach in the age of social media and streaming.Ratings among teens aged 12 to 17 are up 138% while the 18 to 24 age group is up 147%.
Hollywood Inc.NBC’s telecast of the Seattle Seahawks’ decisive win over the Patriots was down slightly from last year’s record.ABC is also seeing spikes in viewing among women, up 121%, and the Latino audience due to its large populations in the markets of New York and San Antonio, according to Flora Kelly, ESPN’s senior vice president for audience research.V...