By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Expect big TV ratings in Atlanta on TNT for the Atlanta Hawks vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers Eastern Conference finals series starting tonight at 8:30 p.m.
The Hawks had its most-watched game ever last Wednesday during its game 5 victory over the Washington Wizards, drawing 345,000 viewers and 3.8 million nationally. The clinching game 6 game on Friday brought in 277,000 viewers and 3 million nationally. (In other words, nearly 10 percent of all viewers came from metro Atlanta, which represents only about 1.7 percent of the U.S. population.)
Nationally, last Friday's Golden State Warriors/Memphis Grizzlies game after the Hawks clincher pulled in a more robust 4.9 million viewers.
Numbers will probably go even higher now that the Hawks are playing the team led by LeBron James, the biggest name in the NBA.
UPDATE, Friday, May 22, 2015: Indeed, the first game drew a 15.4 rating in Atlanta, equal to about 480,000 viewers in Atlanta with 6.8 million nationwide on TNT. That is a new record for Hawks basketball.
Interest in the Hawks, not surprisingly, is way up over last year's first-round playoff appearance. On average, over 12 games, the Hawks have drawn a 7.3 household rating in Atlanta, more than double what they drew a year ago.
This is the furthest the Hawks have ever gone in the playoffs since it moved to Atlanta in 1968.
I only get radio ratings monthly so I won't know the full impact of the Hawks on its radio partner 92.9/The Game for May for a couple of weeks but it's fair to say the station will see a leap.
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