- Up 24 Percent From Last Year; Broadcast Peaked with 15.6 Rating
- NBA Finals Expected to Win the Night for 43rd Consecutive Time
Game 1 of the 2015 NBA Finals, in which the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in an overtime thriller, delivered a 12.9 overnight rating, making it the highest-rated NBA Finals Game 1 ever on ABC, according to Nielsen. The broadcast peaked with a 15.6 from 11:30 p.m.-11:45 p.m. ET.
NBA Finals Game 1 was also up 24 percent from a 10.4 for last year’s Game 1 (Miami Heat-San Antonio Spurs).
It is expected that the NBA Finals will win the night across television for the 43rd consecutive time.
Record local numbers
Game 1 on ABC delivered a 41.4 rating in the Cleveland market and a 28.9 in the San Francisco market. Both are the highest-rated NBA games on ABC ever in the respective markets. Top 10 local markets:
| Market | Rating |
| Cleveland | 41.4 |
| San Francisco | 28.9 |
| Columbus | 21.1 |
| Memphis | 19.9 |
| Norfolk | 16.5 |
| Miami-Ft. Lauderdale | 16.2 |
| Sacramento | 15.7 |
| Atlanta | 15.6 |
| Richmond-Petersburg | 15.2 |
| Raleigh-Durham | 15.0 |
Additionally, NBA Countdown – ABC’s NBA Finals pre-game show – generated a 4.6 overnight rating, which is up 18 percent from 3.9 for the corresponding show leading into Game 1 in 2014.
The NBA Finals will continue with Game Two on ABC this Sunday, June 7, at 8 p.m. ET. NBA Countdown will precede the broadcast at 7:30 p.m. For more details on ABC’s and ESPN’s NBA Finals coverage, visit ESPN Media Zone.
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Media contact: Ben Cafardo at 860-766-3496 or ben.cafardo@espn.com (@Ben_ESPN).
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