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[06/16/26 - 01:44 PM]
Bang! Bang! ABC and ESPN Scored Most-Watched NBA Finals Since 1998
Saturday's NBA Finals Game 5 on ABC delivered an average audience of 24.5M viewers and peaked with 33M viewers watching the closing moments of the New York Knicks Championship victory. |
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| [via press release from ESPN] |
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Bang! Bang! ABC and ESPN scored most-watched NBA Finals since 1998
· Largest Game 5 audience since 1998 averaged 24.5M viewers; peaked with 33M viewers watching final moments of New York Knicks Championship victory
· Record audience for the NBA Finals on ABC and ESPN, up 100 percent from last year
ABC and ESPN scored the most-watched NBA Finals since 1998, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel. Saturday's NBA Finals Game 5 on ABC delivered an average audience of 24.5M viewers and peaked with 33M viewers watching the closing moments of the New York Knicks Championship victory. It was the most-watched NBA Finals Game 5 since 1998 as well.
Overall, the 2026 NBA Finals averaged 20.6M viewers across five games, setting an ABC and ESPN NBA Finals audience record. The Championship series was up 100 percent from last year's seven-game NBA Finals.
Once again, the NBA Finals on ABC generated the largest viewing audience of the day across all of television and in every key male and adult demo.
ESPN and ABC's live event coverage of the NBA continues with exclusive presentations of the 2026 NBA Draft. The two-night event emanates from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Tuesday, June 23 and Wednesday, June 24 with coverage beginning at 7 p.m. ET both evenings.
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[10/16/26 - 02:30 PM]
Brewers Triumph on FS1 Delivers Most-Watched LCS Game 3 Telecast Since 2016
On FS1, Game 3 averaged 6,460,000 viewers.
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[10/16/26 - 11:45 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Scores with Show's "Super Bowl Night"
In fact, among Adults 18-49, "Dancing with the Stars" grew for the fourth telecast in a row, hitting a season high and posting the show's best non-finale episode in over nine years.
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[10/16/26 - 10:42 AM]
ABC News Wins Across Friday Night, Sunday Morning and Late Night
"20/20: Born to Kill" ranked as Friday's No.1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.
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[10/15/26 - 02:55 PM]
Super Bowl Season Success: Bills-Rams Thriller Propels "Monday Night Football" to Best Five-Week Start of ESPN Era
The matchup featuring the NFL's two most recent MVPs averaged 19.8 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, NFL Network and ESPN Deportes.
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[10/15/26 - 02:46 PM]
NLCS Game 2 on FOX/FS1: Most-Watched LCS Game 2 on Any Network Since 2016
On FOX/FS1, the game averaged 6,921,000 viewers.
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[10/15/26 - 02:35 PM]
NHL on Frozen Frenzy on ESPN Delivers Double-Digit Increases
The tripleheader averaged 600,000 viewers, up 31% from a year ago.
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[10/15/26 - 10:29 AM]
ESPN Delivered Its Most-Watched WNBA Playoffs Ever!
Across eight games, ESPN networks averaged 1.4 million viewers, up 23% compared to coverage through the semifinals last year.
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[10/15/26 - 08:00 AM]
CBS Wins Its Premiere Week with Eight of the Top 10 Broadcast Shows and Delivers +9% Year-Over-Year Growth
Weekly viewership averaged 4.43 million viewers, growing +9% from its 2025 premiere week (4.08m viewers).
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[10/14/26 - 04:10 PM]
Nebraska Volleyball Serves Up a Big Saturday on FOX
Nebraska's 3-0 win averaged 945,000 viewers on FOX.
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[10/14/26 - 03:50 PM]
Indiana's Win Over Nebraska Scores 6,734,000 Viewers on FOX
"Big Noon Saturday" peaked at 9,623,000 viewers.
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[10/14/26 - 03:04 PM]
"College GameDay" Continues Record Pace as ESPN College Football Delivers Historic Week 6 Audiences
ABC scored its most-watched college football tripleheader of the season with 8.5 million viewers, led by Georgia-Alabama (12.2 million) and Oklahoma-Texas (9.8 million) - both record-setting rivalry audiences.
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[10/14/26 - 02:50 PM]
26,697,000 Viewers for "America's Game of the Week" Highlight FOX NFL's Week 5
Said coverage was the most watched telecast of the week on any network.
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[10/14/26 - 02:44 PM]
FOX Scores Most-Watched LCS Game 1 on Any Network Since 2005
10,719,000 viewers tuned in Sunday night for NLCS Game 1 on FOX and FOX Deportes.
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[10/14/26 - 11:31 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of October 5
"Carrie," "Neagley," "Reacher," "Off Campus," and "Sterling Point" led all original series worldwide.
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[10/14/26 - 07:29 AM]
ESPN Delivers Sixth Straight Year of Television Viewership Growth, Up 10% in Fiscal Year 2026
ESPN and ESPN on ABC each posted 11% year-over-year growth in total viewership, while ESPN2 increased 3%.
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