Heat-Celtics Ends on Record High Note for ESPN

Game 7 up 11% over Game 6; series boasts three highest overnight ratings in NBA cable history

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/11/2012 11:00:57 AM

Saturday night's concluding game of the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals -- which saw the Miami Heat advance to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive season -- drew a 9.1 overnight rating for ESPN, the highest ever for an NBA game on cable since records began in 2003, according to Nielsen.

The game was highest-rated program Saturday night on broadcast or cable. The game also averaged 13.3 million viewers, also the highest ever on cable, surpassing the old mark set in the first game of last year's Eastern Conference Finals (which included the Heat) by 19.85 (11.1 million).

This was the third game in this series to set the record for an overnight rating for an NBA game on cable. The series boasts the three highest overnight ratings ever. Game 6 drew a 8.2 and Game 4 posted a 7.9 rating.

Game 7 drew a 21.7 rating in Boston, marking the highest rating for an NBA game on cable in that market. In Miami, the game garnered a 25.0 rating, putting it as ESPN's highest-rated game ever in that market and the third highest-rated game on cable.

The NBA Finals, which will pit the Heat against the West champion Oklahoma City Thunder, gets underway Tuesday at 9 p.m. on ABC.