Game 1 of the Cleveland Cavaliers versus the Golden State Warriors drew a 13.1 overnight rating (% of households in the largest 56, out of 210 markets.) That’s up 1.5% versus last year’s Game 1 of the NBA finals which drew a 12.9 overnight rating for a game the Warriors won in overtime. The game peaked with a 14.8 rating from 10:45-11PM ET.
While that might not be as big of an increase as some predicted, considering last year’s game went to overtime and this year the Warriors were cruising in the 4th quarter, and the whole “best game 1 ratings since 2001” thing the numbers are nothing to sneeze at.
Tip of the hat to Peter Wade who was first with the overnight rating by a wide margin:
Preliminary ratings for game one of #NBAFinals averaged 13.1 among the metered markets. Best since 2001.
— Peter Wade (@brooklynmutt) June 3, 2016
Update: Here’s the local market info via ESPN:
The broadcast peaked with a 14.8 rating from 10:45 p.m.-11 p.m. ET.
| Market | Rating |
| Cleveland | 36.0 |
| San Francisco | 32.8 |
| Sacramento | 20.2 |
| Columbus | 18.9 |
| Miami-Ft. Lauderdale | 18.8 |
| San Antonio | 18.7 |
| Atlanta | 16.9 |
| Birmingham | 14.5 |
| West Palm Beach | 14.4 |
| Houston | 14.1 |