Thursday, June 7 NBC heartened by Finals Game 1 ratings Associated Press NEW YORK -- A thrilling Game 1 of the NBA Finals reversed the league's sagging TV ratings. The Philadelphia 76ers' 107-101 upset of the Los Angeles Lakers in overtime Wednesday night drew a 15.2 overnight rating on NBC. That's 19 percent higher than the overnight number for the Lakers' 17-point victory over the Pacers in Game 1 last year. Overnight ratings measure the largest 49 U.S. television markets, covering about 65 percent of the country. Each rating point represents 1 percent of the TV homes in those markets. Philadelphia was the highest-rated market with 41, followed by Los Angeles with 32.9. The rating in New York, the No. 1 market, was 12.7. The national rating was expected late Thursday. The preliminary number was encouraging for NBC, which is in the third year of a $1.75 billion, four-year NBA rights contract. Heading into the best-of-seven championship round, the network's NBA playoff ratings averaged a 4.9 nationally, 14 percent below 2000 -- which had been the lowest for NBC. Ratings in the regular season averaged a 3, 12 percent below last season. It's a continuation of the tremendous drop in viewership for NBA games on NBC since 1998, Michael Jordan's final season, when the title series between his Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz averaged an 18.7 rating. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

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