The Miami Heat overtime win over the Toronto Raptors in Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Tuesday was the most watched sporting event in Orlando on Tuesday night.
In the local 18-to-49 age group in Orlando, the Heat-Raptors NBA playoff game on TNT was number one. It was followed by CW’s The Flash and the playoff Game Two between the Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors on TNT was third in this group. NBC’s Chicago Fire, The Voice and CBS’s NCIS round out the top six programs in Orlando that was watched by people ages 18-49.
Nationally, the Heat-Raptors game had 3.76 million viewers on TNT which was second most-watched sporting event behind the Warriors’ Game Two win over the Trail Blazers which had 5.21 million viewers on TNT.
It is the second consecutive night the NBA Playoffs was the number one sporting event in Orlando as Game Two of the Western Conference Semifinal series between Oklahoma City Thunder against the San Antonio Spurs was the most watched sporting event on Monday night in Orlando and finished second overall in age demo-18-49 group behind only Love and Hip Hop, which airs on VH1.
FOX’s Sunday coverage of the GEICO 500 at Talladega, Was the most-watched sporting event of the weekend beating the NBA with an average of 110,936 viewers in Orlando. Game Five of the NBA Playoffs first round series between Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat last Wednesday night was the most-watched NBA playoff game in Orlando last week.
One thing that is clear is the young audience loves the NBA and are watching the NBA despite the Orlando Magic not being in it.
There are also some connections in the Heat-Raptors and Thunder-Spurs series with Orlando. The Heat have a following in Orlando which has shown when the Heat play at the Amway Center. The Heat are also disliked by many Orlando Magic fans who are more than likely watching rooting against the Heat in the playoffs.
The Thunder-Spurs series features Thunder head coach Billy Donovan, the former head coach of the Florida Gators. There are a lot of Gators fans in Orlando who more then likely are following how Donovan is doing in the playoffs.
Not to mention these are incredibly important and meaningful games.
