{"id":1938,"date":"2026-06-16T21:07:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T21:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1938"},"modified":"2026-06-16T21:07:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T21:07:52","slug":"tv-ratings-knicks-victory-caps-most-watched-nba-finals-since-1998","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1938","title":{"rendered":"TV Ratings: Knicks\u2019 Victory Caps Most Watched NBA Finals Since 1998"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n

\n\tThe New York Knicks\u2018 first NBA title in 53 years delivered the biggest audience for the NBA Finals in 28 years.<\/p>\n

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\n\tSaturday\u2019s deciding fifth game averaged 24.5 million viewers on ABC and ESPN, the third game in a row to draw more than 20 million. The last time the finals drew 20 million-plus viewers over three consecutive contests was in 2016, for the final three games of the Cleveland Cavaliers\u2019 comeback victory over the Golden State Warriors. The telecast was also the most watched game five since the 1998 NBA Finals, which marked Michael Jordan\u2019s last championship with the Chicago Bulls. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe series as a whole delivered 20.6 million viewers, the biggest audience for the NBA Finals since, once again, 1998 \u2014 which means it\u2019s also the best showing ever for the finals on ABC. The network took over rights to the NBA\u2019s championship series in 2003.<\/p>\n

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\n\tSaturday\u2019s telecast peaked with a huge 33 million viewers who watched the closing minutes of the Knicks\u2019 94-90 win over the San Antonio Spurs. Knicks guard Jalen Brunson was named MVP of the series after scoring 45 points, nearly half of the team\u2019s total, in game five.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 2026 NBA Finals doubled last year\u2019s average of 10.27 million viewers. The last time the finals averaged 20 million viewers or more was in 2017 (20.38 million for the third of four straight Warriors-Cavs matchups).<\/p>\n

Read more FlightStory Founder Georgie Holt Says Storytelling Is About Data<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Game five of the 2026 NBA Finals averaged 24.5 million viewers on ABC and ESPN, and the full series drew its biggest audience since 1998.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[342,552,352,1016,753,345],"class_list":["post-1938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-abc","tag-espn","tag-nba","tag-nba-finals","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-tv-ratings"],"yoast_head":"\nTV Ratings: Knicks\u2019 Victory Caps Most Watched NBA Finals Since 1998 - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=1938\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TV Ratings: Knicks\u2019 Victory Caps Most Watched NBA Finals Since 1998 - 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