May 27 was a busy day in sports. It was also the first day of the summer TV season for 2021. One of the NBA’s key TV partners, TNT, emerged victorious among all key adult demos (especially with males) in prime time on all of TV thanks to the NBA Playoffs. On this night (May 27), TNT earned top honors, punctuated by the third game of the Western Conference first round series between the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers (the Lakers went up two games to one). Despite the 10:10 p.m. Eastern start time, the telecast posted 3.724 million viewers, up 12 percent from the comparable late Thursday night playoff game on TNT from two years ago (Warriors-Clippers Game 3 from 4/18/2019: 3.322 million).
Prior to Suns-Lakers, Game 3 of the Milwaukee Bucks-Miami Heat series kicked off the night for TNT with 2.49 million viewers, down 15 percent from 2019 (76ers-Nets Game 3 from 4/18/2019: 2.928 million).
Over on NBA TV, Denver Nuggets-Portland Trail Blazers Game 3 averaged 302,000 viewers, down 9 percent from the NBA TV game that also featured the Nuggets — they played the San Antonio Spurs in their Game 3 on Apr. 18, 2019 (332,000).
Closing the night, TNT’s popular late-night recap show “Inside The NBA” was down a slim 6 percent from Apr. 18, 2019 (1.325 million vs. 1.417 million).
NBCSN’s NHL Stanley Cup first-round playoff doubleheader featured Montreal Canadiens-Toronto Maple Leafs Game 5 (544,000 viewers), followed by Game 6 of Carolina Hurricanes-Nashville Predators (621,000 viewers), down 34 percent (from Capitals-Hurricanes Game 4: 824,000) and down 5 percent (from Golden Knights-Sharks Game 5: 655,000), respectively, from Apr. 18, 2019. Of course, the stark declines of the early evening affair was due to the all-Canadian matchup.
A couple of Game Ones of the super regionals round of the 2021 College Softball World Series aired on ESPN: Florida State-LSU(566,000 viewers; -14% from Oklahoma State-Florida State 5/23/19) began the night and Virginia Tech-UCLA (490,000 viewers; -26% from Texas Alabama 5/23/19) was the nightcap.
First round of the Charles Schwab Challenge on Golf Channel delivered 422,000 viewers, which represented an impressive 61 percent from the same time two years ago (262,000 on 5/23/19). Contributing to this boost were the Day One leaders — two of the sport’s most prominent golfers: Jordan Spieth and Sergio Garcia.
Out-of-market MLB coverage on MLB Network in prime time drew 283,000 viewers (+24%, from White Sox-Astros or Rays-Indians on 5/23/19). The second game of the Toronto Blue Jays-New York Yankees doubleheader was shown to most of the nation while the New York market got Cincinnati Reds at Washington Nationals. Earlier in the afternoon, the first Blue Jays-Yankees game (in New York: Kansas City Royals at Tampa Bay Rays) posted 167,000 viewers (-12%, from Braves-Giants or Phillies-Cubs on 5/23/19).