Golden State Warriors’ NBA Finals Game 6 Championship Clincher Scores 13.99M Viewers For ABC; Once Again, Up From 2021 & Down From 2019

deadline.com:

Taking down the Boston Celtics 103-90 in Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals in the Massachusetts metropolis last night, the Golden State Warriors cemented their dynasty with their fourth championship in the past decade.Now well ensconced in the pantheon of basketball, the big win for Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and their teammates, plus coach Steve Kerr may be all the sweeter after the past two seasons when it looked like the shine was off the Bay Area team.

Celebrating with trophy in hand on the floor of the TD Garden in Boston on Thursday, the Warriors and New England born team bosses Peter Gruber and Joe Lacob were gleaming with pride and exhilaration.Having weathered rough ratings seas over the past two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, ABC must be feeling pretty victorious, at least in the short term.

They had the most watched show of Thursday’s primetime, the top rated (4.3/38) show among the valued 18-49 demographic and they won the night.Hitting a 2022 NBA Finals high, last night’s almost three-hour primetime Game 6 scored 13.99 million viewers for the Disney-owned network.Now, like most of this year’s b-ball championship series, that’s actually good news and bad news for ABC and the NBA.

The upside is that last night’s Game 6 audience saw a rise of almost 12% from the viewership for the pandemic protocol heavy Game 6 of July 20 last year when the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Phoenix Suns 105-98 to secure their own championship.