There was never any question that game seven of the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors was going to get better ratings than Game of Thrones. It’s game seven of the NBA Finals! Between the teams with the two most marketable players in the NBA! And also Kevin Love! Well, now it’s official: 30.8 million viewers tuned in to ABC to see Cleveland beat Golden State on Sunday night, making it “the most watched NBA game since 1998 when Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz.”
Meanwhile, “The Battle of the Bastards” — possibly the most anticipated episode of the series — pulled in 7.66 million Jon Snow lovers and/or Ramsay Bolton apologists, including 3.9 million in the key 18 to 49 demographic. That’s very solid, especially against the monolith that is a winner-takes-all live sports event, but “Battle” isn’t even the highest rated episode of the season. That honor goes to the premiere, “The Red Woman” (7.94 million), followed by “The Door” (7.89), “Book of the Stranger” (7.82), and “The Broken Man” (7.8).
That 7.66 million will likely skyrocket once the Live +3 (live rating, plus the next three days) numbers are in. And without NBA competition, expect this Sunday’s finale, “The Winds of Winter,” to be the first episode this season — and only the second ever in the show’s history — to cross the eight million viewers mark. Something tells me Game of Thrones is going to be fine.
(Via Winter Is Coming)
