As the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers compete to win an NBA championship for the first time in franchise history, the series itself has received low viewership compared to previous years. In fact, the 2025 NBA Finals are currently the least-watched iteration of the series since 1988 when Nielsen Media Research started utilizing the personal people meter for measurements. The fourth game of the series, however, finished with the best numbers thus far with an average of 9.41 million viewers tuning in to view the action on ABC. Even so, the viewership is down 2% year-over-year from when the Boston Celtics faced the Dallas Mavericks in a game that ended in a 38-point victory for the latter.
This time around, the Thunder achieved a seven-point victory over the Pacers to even up the series at two victories per side. The victory for Oklahoma City peaked with 12 million viewers in the 11 p.m. EST quarter-hour, according to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, and finished with the lowest average viewership for a fourth game of the NBA Finals since 1988 (excluding 2020). Lewis notes that Game 4 of the NBA Finals has always fallen on a Friday since 2016 outside of the two seasons (2020, 2021) directly impacted by the global pandemic.
The NBA Finals series between the Thunder and Pacers is currently averaging 9.08 million viewers through its first four games, which is down by approximately 18.1% from the previous year at this time. Boston ended up winning the league championship in five games last year in a series that ended up averaging 11.31 million viewers. Whereas all but one game passed the 10 million viewer threshold last season, no games within this current series have eclipsed the number thus far. Average viewership and ratings for the fifth game of the best-of-seven tilt, which took place on Monday night from Oklahoma City, Okla., are not yet available.
The last time the NBA Finals resulted in a seven-game series came in 2016 when LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a 3-1 deficit to win the championship over Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. The star-studded series finished with an average of 20.3 million viewers, rendering itself as the most-watched NBA Finals series since 1998 when NBC televised the second three-peat of the decade by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
The ESPN on ABC broadcast of Game 4 featured play-by-play announcer Mike Breen with analysts Doris Burke and Richard Jefferson and reporter Jorge Sedano. Lisa Salters, who generally reports on NBA Finals presentations, was away from the broadcast due to a personal matter. Pregame coverage on NBA Countdown featured host Malika Andrews with analysts Stephen A. Smith, Bob Myers and Kendrick Perkins on site from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
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