Monday Final Nationals: Oklahoma City-Golden State on TNT Deliver Best Ratings Start to an NBA West Final in 14 Years

ABC and TNT were winners on this Monday prime time. ABC — which aired the series finale of “Castle” — was the night’s most-watched network with 10.33 million total viewers.

TNT was tops among adults 18-49 (approx. 2.6 rating) and adults 18-34 (approx. 2.5 rating). The “2016 NBA Western Conference Finals – Game 1” between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors and post-game show “Inside the NBA” were the top two most-watched cable programs of the night. Game 1 between the Thunder/Warriors on TNT averaged 8.7 million total viewers and a 5.3 U.S. household rating, based on Nielsen Fast Nationals, to garner the most-viewed program of the night on cable. TNT’s Inside the NBA averaged a 2.8 household rating, according to Nielsen metered market data, for the second-best program of the night.

The Thunder/Warriors telecast peaked with an average of 10.6 million viewers and a 6.4 U.S. household rating from 11:15-11:30 P.M. ET. Overall, the game telecast is the most viewed and highest rated Conference Finals Game 1 airing on the network since 2011 (ECF Game 1 between the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls).

TNT’s Thunder/Warriors WCF Game 1 telecast is up 37 percent in viewers and 33% in U.S. household rating when compared with 2014, the last time the network televised the Western Conference Finals (Oklahoma City vs. San Antonio). WCF Game 1 was also up 27 percent in viewers and 20 percent in U.S. household rating over the 2015 NBA Eastern Conference Finals coverage airing on TNT (Cleveland vs. Atlanta). This year’s coverage of the WCF Game 1 also generated double-digit audience growth across all key demos.

The top rated local markets for Thunder/Warriors – San Francisco (23.4 household rating); Oklahoma City (21.5); Sacramento (12.0); Tulsa and Cleveland (11.1). (Source: Turner)

Thunder/Warriors from May 16, 2016 is the highest-rated, most-watched WCF Game 1 since Lakers/Kings on NBC in 2002 (6.3 household rating, 9.2 million viewers). (Source: Sports Media Watch)

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	Monday, May 16, 2016
	PROGRAM	HH/Share	Viewers (000)	Adults 18-34	Adults 18-49	Adults 25-54
8-11	Network Average	6.7/11	10329	1.0/4	1.6/5	2.2/6
8:00	Dancing with the Stars	7.5/13	11637	1.2/5	1.7/6	2.4/7
10:01	Castle (f)	5.1/9	7648	0.8/3	1.3/4	1.8/5
	PROGRAM	HH/Share	Viewers (000)	Adults 18-34	Adults 18-49	Adults 25-54
8-11	Network Average	4.2/7	6640	0.6/3	1.3/4	1.9/6
8:00	Mike & Molly	4.9/9	7871	0.7/3	1.4/5	2.3/7
8:30	Mike & Molly (s) (f)	5.3/9	8450	0.8/4	1.7/6	2.6/7
9:00	The Big Bang Theory (r)	4.6/8	7220	0.8/3	1.5/5	2.2/6
9:29	The Odd Couple	3.6/6	5736	0.7/3	1.3/4	1.8/5
9:59	Person of Interest	3.4/6	5314	0.4/2	0.9/3	1.4/4
	PROGRAM	HH/Share	Viewers (000)	Adults 18-34	Adults 18-49	Adults 25-54
8-11	Network Average	5.1/9	8126	1.1/5	1.8/6	2.5/7
8:00	The Voice	5.9/10	9519	1.2/5	2.1/7	3.0/8
10:01	Blindspot	3.4/6	5269	0.8/3	1.3/4	1.7/5
	PROGRAM	HH/Share	Viewers (000)	Adults 18-34	Adults 18-49	Adults 25-54
8-10	Network Average	1.9/3	3130	0.7/3	1.0/3	1.2/3
8:00	Gotham	2.3/4	3842	0.9/4	1.3/5	1.6/5
9:00	Houdini & Doyle	1.5/3	2418	0.4/2	0.7/2	0.8/2
	PROGRAM	HH/Share	Viewers (000)	Adults 18-34	Adults 18-49	Adults 25-54
8-10	Network Average	0.6/1	865	0.3/1	0.3/1	0.4/1
8:00	Reign	0.5/1	764	0.2/1	0.3/1	0.3/1
9:00	Jane the Virgin (f)	0.6/1	966	0.4/2	0.4/1	0.4/1
	PROGRAM	HH/Share	Viewers (000)	Adults 18-34	Adults 18-49	Adults 25-54
8-11	Network Average	1.0/2	1754		0.6/2
7:00	Sueño de Amor	0.8/1	1355		0.5/2
8:00	Un Camino Hacia El Destino	1.0/2	1774		0.6/2
9:00	Yago	0.9/1	1578		0.6/2
10:00	El Hotel de Los Secretos	1.1/2	1994		0.7/2
	PROGRAM	HH/Share	Viewers (000)	Adults 18-34	Adults 18-49	Adults 25-54
8-11	Network Average	0.2/0	466		0.2/1
7:00	Sal y Pimienta	0.1/0	274		0.1/1
8:00	La Rosa de Guadalupe	0.2/0	426		0.2/1
9:00	La Viuda Negra (thru 11:00)	0.2/0	485		0.2/1

Sub-Demo Breakdowns – Monday 5/16/16

Cable Rankings – Monday 5/16/16
What follows are the top 100 most-watched shows in prime time on cable (by order of network) for Monday, May 16:

Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research