Back to today’s briefing

Story perspectives

Knicks Beat Spurs, TV Ratings Surge to 19.6 M viewers

6/6/2026

41 7 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

The Knicks defeated the Spurs 105-95 on ABC, drawing 16.93 million national viewers.
The broadcast peaked at 19.63 million viewers at 11 p.m. ET, a 90 % increase from the 8.91 million peak of the previous game.
Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel added out-of-home data and inflated the ratings, yet it does not fully explain the surge.
Game 3 tickets rose above $9,000.
A 30-second ad cost $800,000.

History

Historical Context

The 1998 NBA Finals on NBC, featuring Michael Jordan’s Bulls versus the Utah Jazz, earned an 18.7 household rating and a 22.3 rating for Game 6, drawing 35.9 million viewers—the highest ever. After the 1999 lockout slashed ratings, NBC lost the NBA contract in 2002, prompting ABC’s current high-priced ads for the Knicks-Spurs game.

1 of 2

Story summary

The Knicks defeated the Spurs 105-95 on ABC, drawing 16.93 million national viewers.
The broadcast peaked at 19.63 million viewers at 11 p.m. ET, a 90 % increase from the 8.91 million peak of the previous game.
Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel added out-of-home data and inflated the ratings, yet it does not fully explain the surge.
Game 3 tickets rose above $9,000.
A 30-second ad cost $800,000.

1 / 2