Last night’s New York Knicks-Milwaukee Bucks game on MSG Network, featuring the Knicks debut of All-Star Carmelo Anthony, scored a whopping 6.75 household Nielsen rating (507,285 households) to become the highest-rated regular season Knicks game on MSG in 16 years.
The game narrowly missed topping Michael Jordan’s famous “Double Nickel” game from March 28, 1995 (6.78 HH) when Jordan scored 55 points in his return to Madison Square Garden after his first retirement from the NBA.
The game easily surpassed this season’s previous high of a 3.61 HH rating for the Knicks-Celtics game on December 15, 2010. Last night’s game also beat MSG and ESPN’s combined HH rating of 6.27 for that Knicks-Celtics matchup.
“Last night’s Knicks game was a defining moment at The Garden, and the production team translated that into a stunning experience on television for more than half a million fans watching at home,” said Mike Bair, president, MSG Media.
The game registered season-high numbers in every measurable demo, specifically the key M18-34 demo which scored an 8.42 HH rating that more than doubled this season’s previous high of a 4.06 HH rating for the Knicks-Lakers game on January 9, 2011. The quarter-hour high for the game was an 8.20 HH rating between 10:00-10:15 p.m.
Through 52 games on MSG Network this season, the Knicks are averaging a 1.62 HH rating, up 60% over last season at this time (1.01 HH). The Knicks are also averaging a 2.30 rating in the M18-34 demo, up 147% over last season at this time (0.93 M18-34).
The Knicks travel to Cleveland on Friday to face the Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m. and then to Miami on Sunday to take on the Heat at 8:00 p.m. Both games will be telecast live on MSG Network, and will be preceded by “Knicks Game Night” 30 minutes prior to tip-off.
