In this heat,
all eyes are on Miami Heat
TNT has seen record ratings for the NBA this season
By Toni Fitzgerald
May 31, 2011
The NBA finals tip off tonight on ABC with a rematch of the 2006 series between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks, and if ratings for the earlier rounds are a good indicator, this matchup is going to be huge.
The Heat are seeking to fulfill the incredibly high expectations set up when the team acquired superstar LeBron James and Chris Bosh during the offseason to complement guard Dwayne Wade, who led the team to the title five years ago.
Interest in and media attention on the Heat has been very high since James joined, and the young trio has been vocal in their desire to win a championship.
Miami's recently ended Eastern Conference finals victory over the Chicago Bulls generated record ratings on TNT.
The five-game series averaged 10.4 million total viewers, including the most-watched NBA game in cable history with 11.1 million viewers.
TNT's overall playoff coverage was up by 30 percent or more over last year across every major adult and male demographic.
ESPN and ABC also registered strong numbers for their NBA postseason coverage, though they didn't see the increases that TNT, with the Heat, did.
Last year's NBA finals registered very strong ratings, with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers averaging 18.1 million total viewers for a seven-game series, the most-watched since 2001.
Whether the Heat-Mavericks can outdraw that series may depend on whether it's as close as the Celtics-Lakers series.
ABC's ratings would probably have easily outdrawn last year had the Lakers made it to this year's finals. But the two-time defending champs were shockingly knocked out of the second round this year.
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