Jon Lewis

Redding

Freelance Journalist at Sports Media Watch

Writer & Editor at Freelance

Sports media news and information. Run by Jon Lewis.

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Articles

Can Game 7 of the NBA Finals salvage the ratings for Pacers-Thunder?

5 days ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

It is no secret that the Pacers-Thunder NBA Finals has been something less than a ratings bonanza. The first five games averaged 9.18 million viewers, the worst five-game average for the Finals in the Nielsen people meter era (1988-present), save for Lakers-Heat in the fall 2020 “bubble” — a months-delayed, fanless, neutral site series that had to compete with the NFL, the election, and a presidential hospital stay.
Rain-affected final round of U.S. Open takes ratings drop

1 week ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

A rainy final round of the U.S. Open was no match for a year ago.Last Sunday’s rain-affected final round of the U.S. Open averaged a 2.4 rating and 5.4 million viewers on NBC (5.05 million per Nielsen, plus Adobe Analytics), down 15% in ratings and 8% in viewership from last year (2.8, 5.9M). According to NBC, viewership was trending up six percent from last year until the rain delay.
Cup Final ends with another U.S. low

1 week ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

The Stanley Cup Final finished as it began, with another viewership low. Tuesday’s Oilers-Panthers NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 6 averaged a series-high 2.8 million viewers across TNT and truTV, down a third from the same matchup on ABC last year (4.2M) and the least-watched Cup Final Game 6 since Rangers-Canucks on ESPN in 1994, a telecast that was non-exclusive (2.37M). Keep in mind it was the first Game 6 on cable since Stars-Sabres on ESPN in 1999, which drew 4.45 million.
Pacers-Thunder Game 5 Draws 9.54M Viewers

1 week ago | basketball.realgm.com | Jon Lewis

Monday night's Game 5 between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder averaged 9.54 million viewers on ABC. The number is a series high, though it remains down 22% from last year and is the least-watched Game 5 since the 2020 bubble. If not taking 2020 into account, it is the least watched Game 5 since 2003. Game 5's viewership represents only a 1% increase from Game 4. The 2025 NBA Finals are averaging 9.18 million viewers, down 19% from last year.
NBA Finals inching up, but still at historic lows

1 week ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

The NBA Finals hit a series-high for a third-straight game, but there was barely any growth from Game 4 to Game 5. Monday’s Pacers-Thunder NBA Finals Game 5 averaged a series-high 9.54 million viewers on ABC, down 22% from last year’s Mavericks-Celtics clincher (12.22M) and the least-watched Game 5 of the Finals since Heat-Lakers in the fall 2020 “bubble,” which aired on a Friday night in October (9.19M).
No change to Stanley Cup trend as series nears end

1 week ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

With at most two games left, the viewership trend for the Stanley Cup Final remains pretty much unchanged from the start of the series. Saturday’s Panthers-Oilers NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 5 averaged a series-high 2.7 million viewers across TNT and truTV, down 34% from the same matchup on ABC last year (4.1M) and slightly below Panthers-Golden Knights Game 5 on TNT Sports two years ago, making this year’s game the least-watched Cup Final Game 5 since 1994.
Monday musings: On mystique and aura in sports TV

1 week ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

Sports Media Watch presents thoughts on recent events in the industry, starting with the question of mystique and aura in the NBA Finals. Asked about the New York Yankees’ mystique and aura on the eve of the 2001 World Series, then-Arizona Diamondbacks P Curt Schilling gave one of the most memorable answers in postseason history.
NBA Finals hits series-high in Game 4, but still trending down

1 week ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

The NBA Finals hit a second-straight series-high in Game 4 Friday night, but yet again was the least-watched on record outside of the 2020 “bubble.”Friday’s Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals Game 4 averaged a series-high 9.41 million viewers on ABC, down just 2% from Celtics-Mavericks last year, with the caveat that last year’s game was a 38-point rout by a Dallas team that entered the night down 0-3 (9.62M). This year’s game was a tightly-contested thriller decided in the final minutes.
The Needle, or: "How Leagues Learned to Stop Worrying and Shrug the Ratings"

1 week ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

Welcome back to “The Needle,” a ratings-focused column on Sports Media Watch that will break down the numbers, attempt to put some context behind the data, and discuss broader trends in measurement and television viewing. It is, as the kids like to say, a bit of “cope” to suggest that the ratings do not matter. One only hears that the ratings do not matter when the ratings are not good. Roger Goodell is not downplaying the importance of the ratings.
Cup Final rematch still down, but Game 4 up from previous TNT series

1 week ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final scored a rare increase over the previous time it aired exclusively on cable. Thursday’s Oilers-Panthers NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 4 averaged a 1.3 rating and series-high 2.61 million viewers across TNT and truTV, down a tick in ratings and 15% in viewership from the same matchup last year, which aired on ABC (1.4, 3.09M), but up a tick and 2% respectively from the previous Cup Final Game 4 on TNT Sports — Golden Knights-Panthers two years ago (1.2, 2.56M).