TNT Draws Record 11.5M Viewers for Heat-Pacers Game 7

Most-watched NBA telecast in net's history; third-most watched program ever

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/4/2013 4:27:40 PM

Monday night's concluding seventh game of the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers drew a record 11.5 million viewers to TNT, according to Nielsen fast nationals.

The 11.5 million that saw the Heat's victory over the Pacers was the largest audience in TNT's 29-year history of broadcasting the league; it was also the most-watched NBA game on any network this year. It also registered the highest rating for an NBA game for the cabler with a 7.1 HH rating. The game was also the third-most watched program of any kind in TNT's history, surpassed only by a 1995 NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings (14.1M viewers) and TNT's premiere of its original movie Crossfire Trail in 2001 (12.5M viewers).

Locally, the game averaged a 31.7 HH rating in Miami and a 21.9 HH rating in Indianapolis.

TNT's coverage of the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals averaged 8.4 million total viewers, up 8% compared with the network's coverage of last year's Western Conference Finals.

The NBA Finals get underway Thursday at 9 p.m. on ABC.