NEW YORK – Viewership is up for the championship rounds of professional hockey and basketball, available in high-definition in a majority of American homes for the first time this year.
The first two games of the NBA championship series between the Boston Celtics and L.A. Lakers on ABC averaged nearly 15 million viewers, making them the most-watched prime-time programs on broadcast television last week, the Nielsen Co. said. It was the strongest opening for the NBA championship since the Lakers took on the Detroit Pistons in 1994, and up 10 percent over last year's championship.
Meanwhile, three games of the Stanley Cup hockey finals matching the Chicago Blackhawks with the Philadelphia Flyers on NBC were seen by 14 percent more people than a comparable three games last year.
Ratings for major sports events have been strong this year, including the record set for the most-watched Super Bowl. TV executives think it's no coincidence the increases coincide with Americans' rapid adoption of high definition television, which is very popular with sports fans.
An estimated 52 percent of American homes had HDTVs and were actively using them, according to a Nielsen study done in April. That compares with 33 percent a year earlier and 17 percent in 2008, Nielsen said.
There are other factors helping the events with viewers. The Celtics-Lakers contest is perhaps the most enduring rivalry in pro basketball. The NHL matches take in two of the three most populous television markets in the country.
"It has more to do with the quality of the games than HD," said Larry Hyams, research chief at ABC, "but it certainly is a factor that enhances the viewing experience. It is one factor of many."
So far, the audience for this Lakers-Celtics series is up 11 percent over the same matchup two years ago, Nielsen said. And the NHL thought it already had a strong matchup the past two years between Detroit and Pittsburgh.
The NBA Finals enabled ABC to win the week in prime-time last week, averaging 7.2 million viewers (4.4, 8). CBS dropped to second with a 6.6 million average (also 4.4, 8), NBC had 5.7 million (3.4, 6), Fox had 5.1 million (3.2, 6), ION Television had 1.3 million (0.8, 1) and the CW had 970,000 (0.6, 1).
NBC's "Nightly News" topped the evening newscasts with an average of 7.7 million viewers (5.1, 11). ABC's "World News" was second with 6.9 million (4.7, 10) and the "CBS Evening News" had 5.1 million viewers (3.5, 8).
A ratings point represents 1,149,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 114.9 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.
For the week of May 31-June 6, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: NBA Finals Game Two: Boston vs. L.A. Lakers, ABC, (15.72 million), NBA Finals Game 1: Boston vs. L.A. Lakers, ABC, (14.09 million) "America's Got Talent (Tuesday), NBC, 12.35 million; "NCIS," CBS, 10.83 million; "60 Minutes," CBS, 10.44 million; "America's Got Talent (Wednesday), NBC, 10.36 million; "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 9.85 million; "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 9.47 million; "The Mentalist," CBS, 9.44 million; "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 9.34 million.
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