ESPN's NBA Playoff Ratings Up 25% for Highest-Rated Ever

Net's coverage of Eastern Conference Finals had three highest overnights in NBA cable history

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/12/2012 4:29:24 PM

NBA and its national TV partners experienced more ratings success, as ESPN announced Tuesday that the 2012 playoffs was the network's most-watched and highest-rated on record, according to Nielsen.

In 21 games, ESPN averaged a 4.5 HH rating, up 25% from last year. ESPN averaged 6.2 million viewers, also up 25%. ESPN's coverage increased by double-digits across all key demos: 35% in M18-34 (5.0), 31% in M18-49 (4.6), 29% in M25-54 (4.5), 35% in A18-34 (3.5) and 28% in A18-49 (3.2).

The record numbers were buoyed by the thrilling seven-game Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics, which recorded the three highest overnight ratings for an NBA game on cable ever. The series itself averaged 6.2 HH rating, tying it for the highest-rated conference finals ever on cable. The series averaged 10.1 million viewers as well, a 46% uptick from the network's coverage of last year's Western Conference Finals.

NBA content on ESPN.com and ESPN Mobile properties logged an average minute audience of 71,000, a 22% spike from last year, according to Adobe/Omniture.

The NBA Finals begin Tuesday at 9 p.m. on ABC.