Television ratings for NBA finals down close to 10 percent from last year

TV ratings for NBA finals down from last year

NEW YORK — Television ratings for the NBA finals are down from last year.

The five games on ABC between the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic averaged an 8.4 rating. That’s down close to 10 percent from last season’s 9.3 for the six-game Lakers-Celtics series, which was boosted by Boston’s large market and traditional rivalry with LA.

It’s still up 35 percent from the record-low 6.2 for San Antonio’s sweep of Cleveland two years ago.

The five games averaged nearly 14 million viewers and were the five most-watched programs so far in June.

Ratings represent the percentage of all households with televisions tuned into a program.