Knicks win NBA Finals in five games, draw record viewership

The Knicks' 94-90 victory over the Spurs on Saturday night to capture their first NBA title in 53 years averaged 24.5 million viewers on ABC and ESPN, making it the most-watched Game 5 since 1998.

The New York Knicks’ historic NBA Championship run drove some of the biggest television audiences the league Finals has seen in decades. Saturday’s Game 5 averaged 24.5M viewers across ABC and ESPN, per Nielsen Big Data + Panel, marking the most-watched NBA Finals game since 1998. It peaked with 33M viewers in the final moments …

In earning their first NBA title in 53 years, the New York Knicks gifted the league and ABC the biggest TV turnout since Michael Jordan celebrated his final championship in 1998. According to Nielsen Big Data + Panel estimates, the Knicks’ five-game defeat of the favored San Antonio Spurs averaged 20.6 million viewers per night, …

Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks' 94-90 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night to capture their first NBA title in 53 years averaged 24.5 million viewers on ABC and ESPN, making it the most watched Game 5 since 1998. The audience peaked at 33 million, as Brunson was putting the wraps on a 45-point performance as the Knicks rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter. The finals averaged 20.6 million according to Nielsen, the highest since ABC and ESPN started carrying it in 2003.

Across five games, ABC and ESPN averaged 20.6 million viewers.

The New York Knicks’ first championship in 53 years provided ESPN the most-watched NBA Finals since 1998. Saturday’s title-clinching Game 5 between the Knicks and San Antonio Spurs averaged 24.5 million viewers on ABC, good for the most-watched NBA game since Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State…

The Knicks’ series-clinching Game 5 attracted 24.5 million viewers.