Ratings Roundup: Game 7 of Finals Is Most Watched NBA Game Since 1998; US Copa America Win Sets FS1 Record

Last night’s NBA Finals Game 7 on ABC drew a massive average audience of 30,799,000 viewers (p2+), making it the most-watched NBA game since Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, according to Fast Nationals from Nielsen. In addition, it generated a 15.7 U.S. household rating, making it the highest-rated NBA game since Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals. ABC’s Game 7 viewership peaked with 44,511,000 viewers and a 22.5 U.S. rating from 10:30-10:40 p.m. ET.

The 2016 NBA Finals on ABC, in which the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors 4-3 in a rematch from last year, was the most-watched NBA Finals since 1998. The series averaged 20,166,000 viewers and an 11.3 U.S. rating for its seven games. The back-to-back Cavaliers-Warriors NBA Finals in 2015 and 2016 are the two-most-watched and highest-rated NBA Finals ever on ABC.

The NBA Finals on ABC won the night across all of television for the 55^th consecutive time.

Last night’s Game 7 became the most-watched NBA game ever on WatchESPN across all metrics. It generated 96,276,000 total minutes streamed, 1,760,000 unique viewers and an average minute audience of 598,000 viewers, which is the most for a non-World Cup event ever on WatchESPN.

NBA Finals Game 7 on ABC delivered a 46.3 in the Cleveland market, making it the second-highest rated NBA game ever in the market. In San Francisco, the game generated a 39.4 rating, which also ranks second all-time for an NBA Game. The rest of the top 10 markets included Columbus (30.1), Miami (24.3), San Antonio (23.6), Sacramento (23.3), Memphis (21.7), Atlanta (21.3), Dayton (21.0) and Norfolk (20.7).

…The United States’ 2-1 win over Ecuador, which clinched a spot in the semifinals of the 2016 COPA AMERICA CENTENARIO: THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE AMERICAS, averaged 2.132 million viewers on FS1 Thursday, making it the most-watched men’s soccer match in the network’s history – the Americans’ third consecutive Copa America match to set that record.

With a highly competitive evening of sports programs, fans also turned to second screen viewing options. Last night’s USA vs. Ecuador match was the most-viewed U.S. men’s soccer match ever on FOX Sports GO and the seventh most-watched authenticated event ever on the platform, tallying 150,235 unique streamers and an average audience per minute of 70,089, bringing the match’s overall viewership to more than 2.2 million across FOX Sports platforms.

The 2016 COPA AMERICA CENTENARIO has produced four of the top five men’s soccer ratings in FS1 history, as viewership for the four U.S. matches has grown throughout the tournament. The United States’ 2-0 loss to No. 3-ranked Colombia delivered 1.536 million viewers on June 3; then on June 7, 1.6 million viewers tuned in to see the United States’ crucial 4-0 win over Costa Rica. The third match, in which the Americans clinched a spot in the quarterfinals with a 1-0 win over Paraguay on June 11, averaged 2.061 million viewers, the previous record for the most-watched men’s soccer match in FS1 history.

Coming into the tournament, the previous FS1 record for men’s soccer was the 2015 CONCACAF CUP (1.561 million viewers), the one-match winner-take-all playoff between arch rivals Mexico and the United States for a coveted spot in the FIFA 2017 Confederations Cup, the prolific World Cup warm-up tournament FOX Sports will air next summer from Russia.

…Last week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Golf Channel and NBC generated more than 6 million unique viewers, according to the company, to rank as the second-largest total audience for a women’s golf event since the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open. Spanning June 9-12, 6.087 million unique viewers tuned in to NBC and Golf Channel’s live and replay coverage, up 2% from the tournament’s inaugural year in 2015. NBC’s final round coverage delivered 829,000 average viewers, the most-watched final round of an LPGA major championship since the final round of the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open in 2015 on FOX/FS1. (Cynopsis Sports)