NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The TVB (www.tvb.org), the not-for-profit trade association of America’s local broadcast television industry, today issued the following statement from TVB President and CEO, Steve Lanzano, on the ratings performance for the 2016 NBA Finals Game 7 between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors:

“Like LeBron James, local broadcast television continues to put up the big numbers with Cleveland’s historic win on Sunday in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals being ABC’s most watched game ever as it attracted an average of 20.2 million viewers. Game 7 drew 31.0 million total viewers with an 11.3 rating among adults 18-49, up +18% from the 26.3 million viewers generated during the last Game 7 in 2013. Sunday’s game was the most watched winning-game of the NBA Finals on any network since 1998, peaking at a tremendous 44.5 million viewers in the final minutes and becoming the third most watched telecast on television in 2016 after the Super Bowl (111.9 million) and Academy Awards (34.4 million) demonstrating once again that live broadcast TV dominates in delivering ratings performance.

“In addition to huge national ratings, Game 7 was a massive draw on local affiliate stations in the Cavaliers’ and Warriors’ hometown markets, with 46% of television households in Cleveland and 39% of homes in San Francisco tuning in to watch the game. The markets that generated the third and fourth highest viewership ratings were Columbus, Ohio (30%) and Miami, Florida (24%) – LeBron’s former hometown market. Most notably, local household ratings of Game 7 far exceeded the national viewership ratings with Cleveland and San Francisco outpacing the national average by 188% and 150%, respectively. Game after game and season after season, ratings data confirms that local broadcast television remains the preferred outlet for live sports. Local network affiliated stations consistently draw the most viewers in the live sports category, providing marketers with a unique opportunity to optimize the results of their brand promotion, when fans are highly engaged with this immensely popular programming.”

About TVB:

TVB is the not-for-profit trade association of America’s local broadcast television industry.