One of the most exhilarating NBA Finals series in the last decade was closed out last Sunday with a thrilling Game 7 win by the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Golden State Warriors.
The win snapped a 52-year championship drought for the city of Cleveland dating back to the 1964 Cleveland Browns Championship and the first ever for the Cavaliers’ franchise.
During the Finals series and throughout the NBA playoffs, multiple records were broken along the way. Three point success, wins, playoff performances and even digital content marks were set.
The NBA’s digital coverage of the 2016 Finals delivered records across all platforms. NBA TV’s NBA GameTime post-game Finals show generated the most viewed coverage of all time reaching an average of 258,000 viewers. There was a 10% audience increase for the primetime viewing on NBA TV and a +9% increase in total day viewership in comparison to the 2015 Finals. NBA TV’s original programming also experienced an 8% jump in views from last years numbers.
This includes the shows Inside Stuff, The Starters and NBA Finals Film Room.
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NBA GameTime, NBA.com and the NBA App netted a record 1.4 billion views during the Finals. The two platforms experienced an increase in video views (36%), site visits (48%) and uniques (14%) in comparison to last year’s Finals numbers.
Social Media also exploded during the battle between the Cavaliers and Warriors as content published by NBA TV, NBA on TNT and NBA.com’s Facebook and Twitter accounts reached a record 1 billion social media impressions, 68% higher than last year. Across all social platforms, 5.2 billion impressions were recorded and Facebook’s live coverage of Game 7 inflated to 4.7 million minutes of Facebook live consumption.
This year’s Finals was one of the most watched and interacted with series of all time. A city who deserved it the most finally got the ring it long yearned for. Congratulations to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the city of Cleveland, Ohio.
Social platforms across the world were “All In” for this Finals series and it showed in the final numbers.