NBA Eastern Conference Finals Continues Sunday on TNT

From TNT Sports -

TNT’s Exclusive Coverage of the Eastern Conference Finals Continues

TNT’s exclusive coverage of the 2011 NBA Eastern Conference Finals (ECF) continues Sunday, May 22 with a special 30-minute edition of NBA Tip-Off presented by AutoTrader.com at 8 p.m. (ET) with Ernie Johnson (host), Charles Barkley (analyst), Kevin McHale (analyst) and Kenny Smith (analyst) previewing the night’s action. Following the pre-game show, Derrick Rose and Chicago Bulls will visit LeBron James and the Miami Heat at 8:30 p.m. (ET) in Game 3 of their best-of-seven series. Marv Albert (play-by-play), Steve Kerr (analyst) and Reggie Miller (analyst) will call the game with Craig Sager reporting. The night will conclude with the Emmy® award-winning studio show Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai with Johnson, Barkley, McHale and Smith recapping the game.

Exclusive coverage of the ECF on TNT resumes on Tuesday, May 24 with another 30-minute NBA Tip-Off presented by AutoTrader.com at 8 p.m. (ET). Game 4 between the Bulls @ Heat follows at 8:30 p.m. (ET) with Albert, Kerr and Miller will call the game with Sager reporting. To finish the evening’s coverage, Johnson, Barkley, McHale and Smith will break down the action on Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai.

Companion coverage for every ECF will be available via TNT OverTime on NBA.com. The site will provide multi-camera angle coverage, including an “Action Cam” and a “Backboard Cam.” Users also will have the ability to vote for which player they would like the “Home Player Cam” and “Away Player Cam” to follow per quarter. The live player also will be available on Yahoo! Sports and SI.com

2011 NBA PLAYOFFS ON TNT (all times ET)
Sunday, May 22
8 p.m. (ET) NBA Tip-Off presented by AutoTrader.com
Ernie Johnson (host), Charles Barkley (analyst), Kevin McHale (analyst) and Kenny Smith (analyst)

8:30 p.m. Chicago Bulls @ Miami Heat (Game 3)
Marv Albert (play-by-play), Steve Kerr (analyst), Reggie Miller (analyst) and Craig Sager (reporter)

Postgame Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai
Ernie Johnson (host), Charles Barkley (analyst), Kevin McHale (analyst) and Kenny Smith (analyst)

Tuesday, May 24
8 p.m. (ET) NBA Tip-Off presented by AutoTrader.com
Ernie Johnson (host), Charles Barkley (analyst), Kevin McHale (analyst) and Kenny Smith (analyst)

8:30 p.m. Chicago Bulls @ Miami Heat (Game 4)
Marv Albert (play-by-play), Steve Kerr (analyst), Reggie Miller (analyst) and Craig Sager (reporter)

Postgame Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai
Ernie Johnson (host), Charles Barkley (analyst), Kevin McHale (analyst) and Kenny Smith (analyst)

Thursday, May 26
8 p.m. (ET) NBA Tip-Off presented by AutoTrader.com
Ernie Johnson (host), Charles Barkley (analyst) and Kenny Smith (analyst)

8:30 p.m. Miami Heat @ Chicago Bulls (Game 5)
Marv Albert (play-by-play), Steve Kerr (analyst), Reggie Miller (analyst) and Craig Sager (reporter)

Postgame Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai
Ernie Johnson (host), Charles Barkley (analyst) and Kenny Smith (analyst)

Heat/Bulls Ratings Game 1 Eastern Conference Finals - Most Viewed

From TNT Sports -

TNT’s EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF GAME #1 OF THE NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS DELIVERS MOST-VIEWED GAME IN CABLE TELEVISION HISTORY

BULLS AND HEAT SET VIEWING RECORD WITH MORE THAN 11.1 MILLION TOTAL VIEWERS AND 6.2 OVERALL U.S. HH RATING

TNT’s exclusive live coverage of Game #1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals featuring the Miami Heat @ Chicago Bulls was the most-viewed game in the history of cable television (based on Total Viewership) by delivering 11.1 million total viewers and a 6.2 U.S. HH rating. It is also the most-watched Game #1 of any Conference Finals on cable and was viewed by more people than the previous best of 10,829,000 Total Viewers for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game (Michael Jordan's last All-Star Game).

TNT's Game #1 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals is up over the network's coverage of Game #1 of the 2010 Western Conference Finals (Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Lakers), delivering a 6.2 U.S. HH rating vs. a 4.4 U.S. HH rating (+41%), 11,109,000 total viewers vs. 7,112,000 (+56%) and 7,166.000 households vs 5,012,000 (+43%).

To date, TNT’s coverage of the NBA Playoffs is up significantly over the network’s coverage from last year, averaging a 3.1 U.S. HH Rating (+29%), 4,989,000 Total Viewers (+33%) and 3,630,000 Households (+30%).

Overall, through 36 games, TNT’s 2011 NBA Playoffs coverage also has delivered strong double-digit growth across all key demos including:

A18-34 +42% (1,644,000 vs. 1,160,000)
A18-49 +38% (2,862,000 vs. 2,067,000)
A25-54 +34% (2,566,000 vs. 1,919000)
M18-34 +40% (1,146,000 vs. 819,000)
M18-49 +40% (2,030,000 vs. 1,454,000)
M25-54 +35% (1,799,000 vs. 1,332,000)

Game Two of TNT’s live exclusive coverage of the Eastern Conference Finals continues on Wednesday, May 18 at 8:30 p.m. ET with the NBA Tip-Off presented by AutoTrader.com with Ernie Johnson (host), Charles Barkley (analyst), Kenny Smith (analyst) and Chris Webber (analyst) beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET. The night will conclude with Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai.

The NBA on TNT and NBA TV host 65 days of wall-to-wall coverage of the NBA Playoffs with 40+ games televised on TNT, and nearly 1500 hours of total coverage on NBA TV including 195 hours of live studio coverage.

Bruins/Lightning Eastern Conference Series Schedule

Game 1 at Boston: Saturday, May 14, 8 p.m. (Versus)
Game 2 at Boston: Tuesday, May 17, 8 p.m. (Versus)
Game 3 at Tampa Bay: Thursday, May 19, 8 p.m. (Versus)
Game 4 at Tampa Bay: Saturday, May 21, 1:30 p.m. (NBC)
Game 5 at Boston: Monday, May 23, 8 p.m. (Versus)
Game 6 at Tampa Bay, Wednesday, May 25, 8 p.m. (Versus)
Game 7 at Boston, Friday, May 27, 8 p.m. (Versus)