On average, NBA playoff viewership is up 18% across TNT, ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC thanks in part to a pair of Conference final games. On May 26th, the Cavs and Magic pulled 10.1 million viewers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Championship Series on TNT – the most ever for an NBA Playoff game on cable and the most-watched cable telecast of the year. And the Lakers-Nuggets’ Game 4 of the Western Conference Championship Series delivered 9.7 million viewers - the most ever for a basketball game (college or pro) in ESPN’s history.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NBA PLAYOFFS (MAGIC/CAVALIERS)
TNT
TUESDAY
10,075,000

2
NBA PLAYOFFS (MAGIC/CAVALIERS)
TNT
THURSDAY
9,995,000

3
JON & KATE PLUS 8(S)-05/25/2009
TLC
MONDAY
9,802,000

4
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF FNLS L (LAKERS/NUGGETS)
ESPN
MONDAY
9,731,000

5
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF FNLS L (LAKERS/NUGGETS)
ESPN
WEDNESDAY
9,238,000

6
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF FNLS L (LAKERS/NUGGETS)
ESPN
FRIDAY
8,462,000

7
NBA PLAYOFFS (MAGIC/CAVALIERS)
TNT
SATURDAY
8,362,000

8
2009 MTV MOVIE AWARDS
MTV
SUNDAY
5,282,000

9
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,894,000

10
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,486,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (May 25, 2009 – May 31, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NBA PLAYOFFS (CAVALIERS/MAGIC)
TNT
SUNDAY
8,969,000

2
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF FNLS L (NUGGETS/LAKERS)
ESPN
TUESDAY
8,085,000

3
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF FNLS L (NUGGETS/LAKERS)
ESPN
THURSDAY
7,886,000

4
NBA PLAYOFFS (MAGIC/CAVALIERS)
TNT
WEDNESDAY
7,321,000

5
NBA PLAYOFFS (MAGIC/CAVALIERS)
TNT
FRIDAY
6,910,000

6
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,200,000

7
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,032,000

8
NCIS
USA
SATURDAY
4,151,000

9
SPONGEBOB
NICK
SATURDAY
3,917,000

10
NCIS
USA
MONDAY
3,911,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (May 18, 2009 – May 24, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NBA PLAYOFFS (MAGIC/CELTICS)
TNT
SUNDAY
8,382,000

2
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF SEMIS L (LAKERS/ROCKETS)
ESPN
THURSDAY
7,352,000

3
NBA PLAYOFFS (MAGIC/CELTICS)
TNT
TUESDAY
5,233,000

4
NBA PLAYOFFS (ROCKETS/LAKERS)
TNT
TUESDAY
5,187,000

5
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,940,000

6
NBA PLAYOFFS (NUGGETS/MAVERICKS)
TNT
MONDAY
4,837,000

7
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF SEMIS L (CELTICS/MAGIC)
ESPN
THURSDAY
4,795,000

8
NBA PLAYOFFS (NUGGETS/MAVERICKS)
TNT
WEDNESDAY
4,574,000

9
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,415,000

10
ICARLY
NICK
SATURDAY
4,319,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (May 11, 2009 – May 17, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
ICARLY MOVIE:DATEABADBOY
NICK
SATURDAY
6,472,000

2
NBA PLAYOFFS (ROCKETS/LAKERS)
TNT
WEDNESDAY
6,321,000

3
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF SEMIS L (LAKERS/ROCKETS)
ESPN
FRIDAY
5,952,000

4
NBA PLAYOFFS (ROCKETS/LAKERS)
TNT
MONDAY
5,400,000

5
NBA PLAYOFFS (CELTICS/MAGIC)
TNT
SUNDAY
5,089,000

6
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,794,000

7
ICARLY
NICK
SATURDAY
4,585,000

8
NBA PLAYOFFS (HAWKS/CAVALIERS)
TNT
TUESDAY
4,501,000

9
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,488,000

10
NBA PLAYOFFS (CELTICS/MAGIC)
TNT
MONDAY
4,352,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (May 4, 2009 – May 10, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NBA PLAYOFFS (BULLS/CELTICS)
TNT
SATURDAY
6,987,000

2
NBA PLAYOFFS (CELTICS/BULLS)
TNT
THURSDAY
5,352,000

3
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,114,000

4
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
4,929,000

5
NCIS
USA
WEDNESDAY
4,492,000

6
NCIS
USA
TUESDAY
4,467,000

7
HANNAH MONTANA
DSNY
SUNDAY
4,460,000

8
NCIS
USA
MONDAY
4,394,000

9
NCIS
USA
MONDAY
4,214,000

10
SONNY WITH A CHANCE
DSNY
SUNDAY
4,122,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (April 27, 2009 – May 3, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
6,276,000

2
CLOSER, THE
TNT
MONDAY
6,011,000

3
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,737,000

4
PRES ADDRESS/ANALYSIS(S)-02/24/2009
FOXNC
TUESDAY
5,058,000

5
OBAMA CONG ADDRESS
CNN
TUESDAY
5,050,000

6
OBAMA ADDRESS TO CONGRESS(S)-02/24/2009
FOXNC
TUESDAY
5,015,000

7
BURN NOTICE
USA
THURSDAY
4,848,000

8
SR/OBAMA CONG ANALYSIS
CNN
TUESDAY
4,680,000

9
PRES ADDRESS/GOP RESPONSE(S)-02/24/2009
FOXNC
TUESDAY
4,674,000

10
NCIS
USA
THURSDAY
4,535,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (February 23, 2009 – March 1, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
6,402,000

2
CLOSER, THE
TNT
MONDAY
5,887,000

3
MONK
USA
FRIDAY
5,544,000

4
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,541,000

5
ICARLY
NICK
MONDAY
5,089,000

6
NCIS
USA
MONDAY
4,962,000

7
PSYCH
USA
FRIDAY
4,828,000

8
SPONGEBOB
NICK
SATURDAY
4,678,000

9
BURN NOTICE
USA
THURSDAY
4,677,000

10
DADNAPPED
DSNY
MONDAY
4,620,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (February 16, 2009 – February 22, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
2009 NBA ALL STAR GAME(S)-02/15/2009 (EAST VS WEST)
TNT
SUNDAY
7,621,000

2
NBA ALLSTAR SAT NIGHT(S)-02/14/2009
TNT
SATURDAY
6,554,000

3
2009 NBA ALLSTAR PST GAME(S)-02/15/2009
TNT
SUNDAY
5,707,000

4
CLOSER, THE
TNT
MONDAY
5,437,000

5
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,378,000

6
MONK
USA
FRIDAY
5,114,000

7
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,099,000

8
BURN NOTICE
USA
THURSDAY
4,845,000

9
NBA ALLSTAR TIP OFF(S)-02/15/2009
TNT
SUNDAY
4,589,000

10
PRES OBAMA NEWS CONF(S)-02/09/2009
FOXNC
MONDAY
4,268,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (February 9, 2009 – February 15, 2009)

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
DAY
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
MONK
USA
FRIDAY
5,677,000

2
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,471,000

3
CLOSER, THE
TNT
MONDAY
5,369,000

4
BURN NOTICE
USA
THURSDAY
5,271,000

5
ICARLY
NICK
SATURDAY
5,230,000

6
WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW)
USA
MONDAY
5,151,000

7
NCIS
USA
MONDAY
4,468,000

8
PSYCH
USA
FRIDAY
4,460,000

9
NCIS
USA
THURSDAY
4,316,000

10
NBA BASKETBALL (LAKERS/CELTICS)
TNT
THURSDAY
4,311,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (February 2, 2009 – February 8, 2009)