• by Wayne Friedman , May 29, 2026

Both the Eastern and Western NBA Conference finals have witnessed rising viewership versus a year ago -- especially for the Western Conference Finals.

On NBCUniversal platforms, the Oklahoma City Thunder-San Antonio Spurs has averaged a combined broadcast/streaming 9.6 million viewers through six games -- with closely fought, dramatic contests.

NBCU’s results are drawn from Nielsen Big Data + Panel and Adobe measurement. NBC says 7.5 million viewers were on NBC Television Network, with 2.1  million on Peacock.

This is up 33% versus a year ago, when the NBC Television Networks was measured at around ESPN/ABC coverage, and 71% when compared to a combined NBC/Peacock (Nielsen, Adobe measurement) versus ESPN/ABC a year ago (Nielsen panel only).

This year’s four-game New York Knicks-Cleveland Cavaliers Eastern Conference Finals averaged 7.4 million on ESPN/ABC -- an increase of 6% compared to last year’s six-game series between the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks on TNT, at 7.0 million.

The Nielsen-only measurement for the 2025 NBA Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves on ESPN/ABC earned 5.6 million viewers for five games --- a sharp decline compared to the year before because of several blowout games.

The biggest NBA Conference Finals advertisers this year include AT&T Wireless, Kia Motors, Hyundai, American Express and DraftKings.

A year ago, the biggest brands included Google Pixel, State Farm, Warner Bros, ABC and Columbia Pictures.

National TV advertising revenue so far totals $164.7 million, according to estimates from iSpot.tv -- coming from 6.1 billion impressions and 2,013 airings on NBC Television Network and ESPN/ABC from May 18 through May 28.