Live sports programming continues to deliver huge ratings for TNT and ESPN as both networks dominated last week’s primetime cable ratings chart.

TNT averaged 3.2 million viewers for the week of May 13-19 to top all cable networks for the fourth straight week, according to Nielsen numbers supplied by Fox News. The network was bolstered by its May 19 coverage of the Minnesota Timberwolves-Denver Nuggets Game 7 NBA Western Conference semifinals telecast, which averaged 7.5 million viewers.

NBA and NHL playoffs-fueled ESPN finished second for the week with 2.2 million viewers, followed by Fox News' 1.9 million viewers and MSNBC’s 1.1 million watchers.

HGTV pulled into fifth place with 647,000 viewers, followed by Hallmark Channel (637,000 viewers), INSP (606,000), TBS (525,000), USA Network (522,000) and History (512,000).

Fox News posted its 19th straight win on the total day chart with 1.2 million viewers, followed by MSNBC (831,000), TNT (797,000), ESPN (771,000) and CNN (471,000), according to Nielsen. 

ESPN2’s May 14 telecast of the opening-night Indiana Fever-Connecticut Sun WNBA game, featuring the pro debut of college basketball sensation Caitlin Clark, drew 2.1 million viewers — making it the most-watched WNBA game on cable ever.

The game, in which Clark scored 20 points in a losing effort, was also the most-watched WNBA game since NBC drew 2.4 million viewers for its Memorial Day 2001 telecast, according to SportsMedia Watch. 

The game was the third most watched live sports event Tuesday night behind TNT’s two NBA playoffs telecasts, including Game 5 of the Indiana Pacers-New York Knicks Eastern Conference semifinal (4.8 million viewers) and Game 5 of the Minnesota Timberwolves-Denver Nuggets Western Conference semifinal (4.5 million), according to SportsMedia Watch. 

Clark has been a major ratings draw for women’s basketball so far this year. ABC and ESPN set a women’s college basketball ratings record by drawing 18.9 million viewers for their simulcast of the April 7 NCAA championship game, in which Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes fell to the South Carolina Gamecocks. 

ESPN’s April 15 WNBA draft telecast featuring Clark, selected by the Fever with the first overall draft pick, averaged a record 2.4 million viewers.

Prime Video will stream Clark’s home opener on Thursday (May 16), as Indiana faces the New York Liberty. 

ESPN and TNT Sports are betting that an NBA playoffs mix of new entrants and traditional powerhouses will help drive viewership of the league’s postseason games. 

Following this week’s play-in tournament, the next phase of the NBA postseason tips off this weekend with all 16 playoff teams playing across TNT, ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. Sports programmers point to the infusion of new teams such as the Oklahoma City Thunder — the top seed in the Western Conference — as well as the Eastern Conference qualifiers Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers, as an opportunity to draw in new viewers while increasing the interest for hard-core fans. 

Also Read: NHL, NBA Playoffs Begin; Haney-Garcia PPV Boxing Event: What’s on This Weekend in TV Sports 

“The teams that are supposed to be in the playoffs are there, and it should be really competitive,” Warner Bros. Discovery Sports chief content officer Craig Barry said. “It’s great to see new teams like the Orlando Magic start to rise up and to see teams like the New York Knicks back in the playoffs, while still having the defending champion Denver in the mix as the team to beat. It’s great that the league continues to evolve and become more competitive.” 

ESPN head of event and studio production Dave Roberts also said the lineup of playoff teams offers viewers new faces and competitive matchups, particularly in the Western Conference. 

“What’s great about this is you have a host of new stars coming aboard, whether it's Oklahoma City and Minnesota Timberwolves, and of course the Lakers are right there as well,” Roberts said during a recent ESPN NBA Playoffs media conference call. 

The NBA is hoping to top last year’s playoffs audience of 5.4 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and TNT, which was the most-watched playoffs in five years, according to the league.

The league is coming off two straight nights of double-digit ratings increases for the play-in tournament. TNT’s Tuesday night coverage of the Los Angeles Lakers-New Orleans Pelicans and Golden State Warriors-Sacramento Kings telecasts averaged 3.98 million viewers across TNT and TruTV, up 37% from the 2023 play-in games, according to Sports Media Watch. 

Wednesday’s Miami Heat-Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks-Chicago Bulls games on ESPN averaged 3.25 million viewers, up 25% from last year’s play-in games, according to Sports Media Watch.

WBD’s Barry said TNT Sports is up to the task of educating viewers on the new playoff entrants throughout its coverage of the postseason. “We’re in the business of storytelling, so this is an opportunity to tell some fresh stories about some of these teams that are coming into the playoffs,” he said. “We spend so much time talking about the Celtics, Lakers and Warriors, so for our guys it’s a fresh take for them because some of these teams don’t appear on our air too often. This is a great opportunity to breathe in some fresh air with our coverage and watch these very talented teams compete.” 

TNT topped the primetime cable ratings charts for the seventh straight week on the strength of its Memorial Day NBA Playoffs telecast.

TNT averaged 2.1 million viewers in primetime for the week of May 29-June 4 to top all cable networks, according to Nielsen ratings provided by Fox News Channel. The network was bolstered by its May 29 coverage of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics, which drew 11.9 million viewers — the third-most-watched NBA game in TNT history.

Fox News finished second for the week with 1.3 million viewers, followed by MSNBC’s 991,000 viewers and ESPN’s 884,000 watchers. INSP pulled into fifth place with 789,000 viewers, followed by HGTV (784,000 viewers), Investigation Discovery (714,000), History (652,000), Hallmark Channel (643,000) and USA Network (613,000).

On a 24-hour basis, Fox News bested all cable networks for the 22nd consecutive week, averaging 1 million viewers. MSNBC finished second with 665,000, followed by TNT (554,000 viewers), ESPN (445,000), and HGTV (427,000).

TNT tomorrow (June 3) will drop the puck on its first Stanley Cup Finals with the hope fans will watch the games between the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers in the same big numbers as they have throughout the NHL playoffs.

The series will be exclusively on cable, with Warner Bros. Discovery-owned TNT, TBS and truTV simulcasting games beginning with Saturday’s Game 1 in Las Vegas. TNT will air the Stanley Cup Finals in three of the seven years covered by the NHL television deal reached in 2021. It alternates with The Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC, which aired last year’s finals. 

The NHL hopes to extend to its strong postseason ratings performance thus far. The first three rounds of the NHL playoffs averaged 1.14 million viewers across ESPN, ABC and TNT, up 2% from last season, according to Nielsen numbers reported by SportsMedia Watch.  

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports executive VP and chief content officer Craig Barry said that the company is approaching the Stanley Cup finals with the same “authentic DNA” that it used for its coverage throughout the 2022-23 NHL season, as well as for its NBA regular season and postseason coverage.

“We understand our obligation to the hard-core fan, but more importantly we understand our equal obligation to the casual fan, and that is one of the primary differentiators in our coverage,” he said. “We do that by emphasizing the intersection of sports and culture.”

Barry added that he’s not concerned about hockey fans not being able to find the games on cable, adding that the network’s ratings success will mostly be determined by the play on the ice. 

“In the fragmented media landscape, people are becoming more accustomed to finding their sports and events on different platforms, and fans appreciate the best coverage and experience regardless of network,” he said. “These are two terrific teams who deserve to be in the finals. Like all great series, the success of this Finals will be determined by the competition and the stories that unfold.” 

As for TNT's NBA playoffs coverage, Barry said the network's strong ratings performance benefited from appealing matchups and great storylines throughout the postseason. Overall, TNT’s playoff games averaged 4.7 million viewers, up 14% from last year, according to SportsMedia Watch. 

TNT's May 29 Game 7 coverage of the Boston Celtics-Miami Heat Eastern Conference Finals averaged 11.9 million viewers, making it the third-most-watched NBA game in TNT history. 

“Sports are most certainly matchup driven, but with the addition of great storylines and unique and special moments within the series, fans become more emotionally attached to the coverage,” Barry said. 

TNT rode the end of its coverage of the NBA and NHL conference championship playoff rounds, leading up to each league’s finals, to another win in the primetime cable ratings during the final full week of May. 

TNT averaged 3.2 million viewers during the week of May 22-May 28 to top all cable networks for the sixth straight week, according to Nielsen figures supplied by Fox News Channel. TNT was propelled by its Boston Celtics-Miami Heat NBA Eastern Conference finals coverage, with the May 27 Game 6 of the series averaging 8.7 million viewers. 

TNT will air the NHL Stanley Cup Finals, pitting the Vegas Golden Knights against the Florida Panthers, starting this Saturday (June 3). 

ESPN finished second for the week with 1.8 million viewers, powered by 8.2 million viewers tuning into its May 22 coverage of Game 4 of the Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Lakers NBA Western Conference finals. The NBA Finals between the Heat and Nuggets begins Thursday night (June 1) on ESPN sister network ABC. 

Fox News finished third for the week with 1.3 million viewers, followed by MSNBC with 1.1 million viewers and HGTV with 781,000 watchers. INSP was the sixth most-watched network for the week with 693,000 viewers, followed by Discovery Channel (630,000 viewers), History (576,000), TLC (567,000) and Hallmark Channel (539,000).

Fox News took top honors in the total day category for the 21st consecutive week with 1 million viewers, followed by MSNBC (734,000 viewers), TNT (703,000), ESPN (599,000) and HGTV (420,000), according to Nielsen.  

TNT and ESPN continued to ride live sports programming to the top of the primetime charts during the second week in May.

TNT led all cable networks with an average of 3 million viewers in primetime during the period of May 8 to May 14, according to Nielsen ratings supplied by Fox News, followed by ESPN with 2.8 million viewers. Both networks were powered by their respective NBA and NHL playoffs coverage. 

Fox News finished third with 1.4 million viewers, followed by MSNBC with 1.1 million viewers and HGTV with 731,000 watchers.

INSP was sixth with 716,000 viewers, followed by CNN (701,000 viewers), History (681,000), TLC (623,000) and Food Network (578,000).

Fox News was the most watched network on a total day basis for the 18th straight week with 1.1 million viewers, followed by ESPN (902,000 viewers), TNT (894,000), MSNBC (755,000) and CNN (462,000). 

The Mother’s Day weekend lineup of live tv sports action begins on the pro football field as ABC airs in primetime the upstart XFL pro football league’s Championship game featuring the Arlington Renegades and the D.C. Defenders. 

The second round of the NBA Playoffs winds down as the Philadelphia 76’ers and the Boston Celtics meet Saturday on ABC in a pivotal Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. 

On the ice, ESPN on Saturday will air a Game 6 NHL Playoffs contest featuring the Dallas Stars, who will look to close out its second round series against Seattle Kraken. On Sunday ESPN will air Game 6 of the Edmonton Oilers-Vegas Golden Knights series, with the Golden Knights up three games to two.

On the racetrack, NBC on Saturday will televise the GMR Grand Prix IndyCar Series race and on Sunday will air the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Motul Course de Monterey race. 

On the baseball diamond, Peacock on Sunday morning will stream the L.A. Angels-Cleveland Guardians game, while ESPN will televise the St. Louis Cardinals-Boston Red Sox game as part of its Sunday Night Baseball telecast. 

On the links, CBS and Golf Channel will offer final round weekend coverage of the AT&T Byron Nelson Classic PGA tournament, while the CW offers live Saturday and Sunday coverage of the LIV golf tournament in Tulsa. 

Both ESPN and Showtime will feature boxing cards Saturday night, with ESPN offering the Janibek Alimkhanuly-Steven Butler WBO middleweight title fight and Showtime airing the Rolando Romero-Ismael Barroso WBA interim junior welterweight title bout. In the octagon, ABC will air a UFC heavyweight main event bout between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Jailton Almeida. 

Fox on Sunday will air final round coverage of the Professional Bowlers Association’s Players Championship. On the soccer field, USA and Peacock will air nine Premier League games throughout the weekend. 

TNT continues to build ratings momentum heading into its second-round coverage of the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League playoffs. 

Coming off its most-watched first-round NBA playoffs coverage in five years, TNT’s May 2 coverage of Game 1 of the Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors Western Conference semifinals drew a cable-record 7.4 million viewers. Through Tuesday night, TNT’s NBA postseason coverage has averaged 3.8 million viewers, up 10% compared to last season, Nielsen reported.  

On the ice, Game 7 of the Boston Bruins-Florida Panthers first-round Stanley Cup playoff series drew 3.2 million viewers to TNT, making it cable’s most-watched first-round game of all time. Overall, TNT averaged 959,000 viewers for its first-round coverage, the most-watched first-round NHL playoffs on cable of all time and up 18% from last year, according to Nielsen.

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports chief content officer Craig Barry, who oversees operations and technology for sports content airing on TNT, TBS and TruTV, spoke with Multichannel News about the network’s fast ratings start to the NBA and NHL postseason. Barry also talks about WBD Sports’ efforts to integrate sports and entertainment through technology and the popular talent found on shows such as Inside the NBA. 

MCN: Are you surprised by the strong ratings performance of the opening rounds of the NBA and NHL playoffs on TNT and to what do you attribute the network’s fast ratings start?

Craig Barry: I’m pleasantly surprised. I think that you're seeing really competitive games both in NBA and NHL playoffs — there’s been a number of overtime games that have really attracted viewers. In the NBA, in particular, you have powerhouse teams in the running. Whenever New York, Los Angeles, Golden State, Miami are in the playoffs, it just feels like the planets are aligned and people are generally really interested. Sports is always matchup-driven at its core. It doesn’t matter how good of a job we do on the production, it's driven by the teams that people love and that the fans love to watch.

MCN: How do you see sports content fitting into the overall programming strategy from TNT and TBS? 

CB: I don't want to speak for the entertainment side of the business, but what I'll say is they are great supporters of sports and it's part of their programming strategy. They can strategically program their entertainment programming around sports — I can tell you five years from now when the playoffs are happening, when March Madness is happening, when the [NBA and NHL] All-Star games are happening. They’ve been great partners.

MCN: WBD Sports has been successful in melding sports with entertainment through shows like Inside the NBA. How important is that in terms of attracting both hardcore and non-sports viewers?  

CB: There’s an intersection between sports and culture that we want to make sure that we understand and serve. We understand the obligation to the hard-core fan, but we also believe in an equal obligation to the casual fan. We look at creating an on-ramp for the casual fan to come in and watch and to be entertained and informed, while creating as much access to the game and to the players on the court or field. 

There are a lot of companies that believe there’s a specific box that you work in, and this is the way to do things. We believe in the individuals that work here, and we believe in and what they bring, as individuals, to the table. We love the kind of authentic output that comes from that. It's not always perfect, but it’s always authentic and that's important. We’ve become well-known for taking that imperfection and turning it into something special. 

MCN: How do you see the TV sports industry evolving in the near future, particularly on the technology side?

CB: That’s an interesting question. The streaming of sports rights content is obviously in the forefront. Being able to deliver your product where the fans are is the most important objective. If your fans don't have cable, make sure you're creating an opportunity on a direct-to-consumer product for your brand, like in our case Max or Bleacher Report. 

I think that's the most important part about streaming — it’s not necessarily differentiating yourself with the presentation, although that's a big part of it. It's first making sure that you can reach that scale of fan and consumer, regardless of where they are. I also feel like one of the largest disruptors is not necessarily just streaming, but also the cost efficiency of content. There are so many platforms calling for so much scale that we have to find ways to create more content at a high-quality level, but where we can scale to various platforms and make sure that we can sustain a model of efficiency while we’re doing that. 

I don’t care if you're a sports network, an entertainment network or a streaming platform, I think everybody sees the demand for content consumption as so large  that in order to be successful in this business you absolutely have to find a model where you have economic efficiencies in the way that you create and distribute content.

The first round of the NBA playoffs served gave both TNT and ESPN a ratings boost last week, with both finishing among the top three most-watched basic-cable networks in primetime.

TNT averaged 2.7 million viewers in primetime during the week of April 17-23, topping all cable networks and ending Fox News Channel’s three-week run in the top spot, according to Nielsen. ESPN finished third for the week, averaging 1.5 million viewers.

Fox News fell to second place with 2 million viewers, with cable news competitor MSNBC finishing fourth with 1.1 million watchers. TBS was No. 5 with 806,000 viewers.

Rounding out the top 10 most-watched networks in primetime were HGTV (788,000 viewers), History (780,000), INSP (725,000), Hallmark Channel (682,000) and USA Network (663,000).

Fox News extended its total day winning streak to 15 straight weeks with an average of 1.2 million viewers, followed by TNT (932,000 viewers), MSNBC (735,000), ESPN (595,000) and HGTV (447,000), reported Nielsen.   

About five months ago, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav loudly questioned his conglomerate’s intention to renew its $1.2 billion-a-year NBA national TV rights contract when expires at the end of the 2025 playoffs. 

“We don't need the NBA,” Zaslav said.

Well, someone should tell the WBD PR department, which proudly trumpeted a week ago Sunday’s (April 16) primetime ratings performance, driven by two first-round NBA playoff matchups, as the “best night ever” across WBD’s various cable channels. 

Bolstered by the Los Angeles Clippers' 115-110 game 1 defeat of the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets 109-80 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, WBD said it controlled 61% of viewership of adults 25-54 and 64% of viewing for adults 18-49 from 7 p.m.-11 p.m. 

The Clippers-Suns game averaged more than 5 million viewers. And two NBA primetime cablecasts just led prime time this past Sunday, too, albeit with slightly lower total audience performances. 

Based on Nielsen measurement of viewers 25-54 during that primetime window, WBD “owned all 10 of the top-performing shows for April 16:

1. TNT – NBA Playoffs (Clippers vs. Suns)
2. TNT – NBA Playoffs (Nuggets vs. Timberwolves)
3. TLC – 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way
4. Discovery – Naked and Afraid
5. HGTV – Home Town Takeover
6. HGTV – Home Town Takeover Sneak Preview
7. TBS – The Big Bang Theory
8. TBS – The Big Bang Theory
9. Discovery – Naked and Afraid: Solo
10. TLC - Seeking Brother Husband

“More than any other media company, we offer audiences everything they want to watch on any given night,” Jon Steinlauf, chief U.S. ad sales officer for Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement. “From the biggest live sports events to the most-watched lifestyle networks, and everything in-between, our programming features stories that connect and inspire audiences everywhere.”

Strong ratings for the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League playoffs have Warner Bros. Discovery back in the market selling advertising inventory previously reserved for make-goods.

Warner Bros. Discovery is also looking to sell a new sports update feature package that would run on all of the company’s cable networks, promoting upcoming games and giving sponsors a new opportunity to reach viewers whose demographics line up with sports fans.

“We had already reached our sales goals and we will have the best NBA and NHL year we’ve ever had with what we currently have in house,” Jon Diament, executive VP for ad sales at WBD told Broadcasting+Cable.

“Now because of our ratings surge, we have no liability, so any inventory we had left over for potential sweeps or ratings [shortfalls] we’re pretty confident we can put back into the market, and that’s what’s happening,” Diament said.

The popularity of sports with advertisers has WBD in the market with a new sports update feature. Short segments would appear on WBD’s cable networks and show game highlights–live look-ins are being considered–to update viewers and promote upcoming contents.

Diament said that several WBD networks have demographics that match up well with advertisers looking to reach sports fans. Those include truTV, Adult Swim, MotorTrend Network and Discovery. 

“We’re trying to package them all together and make it easier for advertisers to extend their reach on all these non-sports networks on one simple buy,” he said.

Before the start of the playoffs, Diament said inventory was tight because more NBA and NHL inventory than usual was sold in the upfront market because of strong demand.

“The advertisers see what’s going on on television and the share of live sports compared to entertainment and news,” Diament said.

On top of that, nearly all of the official NBA and NHL marketing partners are also advertising in a significant way.

In the first week of the NBA playoffs, games were the top-rated programs nearly every night across television, Diament said.

For the spring playoff seasons, strong categories include home improvement, movies, travel, restaurants and beer and liquor. The auto category has also improved.

Google Pixel is the overall presenting sponsor of the NBA playoffs on WBD. Other key advertisers for the NBA on TNT include Carmax, which sponsors the pregame show; halftime sponsor American Express; and postgame sponsor Kia. Nerd Wallet is presenting Round 1 of the playoffs and AT&T is the presenting sponsor of the Eastern Conference Finals. Casamigos Tequila is presenting Game Breaks.

Under the NHL’s new rights deals with ESPN and the Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. Discovery, this is the first year WBD will televise the Stanley Cup Finals. (WBD’s TNT and Disney’s ESPN and ABC televise the finals every other year.)

Diament said that 95% of WBD’s NHL advertisers have either increased their spending or are new.

Key NHL sponsors include GEICO, which is presenting the entire Stanley Cup playoffs; Verizon Communications, which sponsors the pregame show; Lexus, presenter of the first intermission report; Discover Card, presenter of the second intermission report; and Cadillac, which sponsors the post-game show.

Disney Ad Sales earlier this week said it was nearly sold out for the NHL playoffs, with 17 sponsors and 142 advertisers across 64 categories signed up.

 This weekend’s list of live TV sports events begins Saturday on the basketball court with the start of the NBA Playoffs. 

After a week of play-in games to determine the final four playoff teams, the NBA’s first round, best-of-seven post-season series begin Saturday afternoon on ESPN with the Brooklyn Nets against the Philadelphia 76’ers, the Atlanta Hawks facing the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks meeting the Cleveland Cavaliers. ABC will round out Saturday’s action with the Golden State Warriors-Sacramento Kings telecast.

On Sunday, ABC will televise the L.A. Lakers-Memphis Grizzlies contest, while TNT offers up a tripleheader beginning with the L.A. Clippers-Phoenix Suns clash. Also slated for Sunday on TNT is the Milwaukee Bucks game against the winner of Friday’s Chicago Bulls-Miami Heat play-in contest, and the Denver Nuggets matchup against Friday’s Oklahoma City Thunder-Minnesota Timberwolves winner. 

Football fans will have two spring leagues to watch as the USFL kicks off its second season Saturday alongside week nine of the XFL's inaugural season. Fox on Saturday will televise USFL matches featuring the Philadelphia Stars and Memphis Showboats and the New Jersey Generals against the Birmingham Stallions, while NBC on Sunday will carry the Houston Gamblers-Michigan Panthers contest and FS1 will air the Pittsburgh Maulers-New Orleans Breakers game. 

On the XFL front, ABC on Saturday will televise the Vegas Vipers-Houston Roughnecks matchup while ESPN2 tackles the Orlando Guardians-San Antonio Brahmas game. On Sunday, ESPN will air the Arlington Renegades-D.C. Defenders game and the Seattle Sea Dragons-St. Louis Battlehawks contest.  

On the links, CBS and Golf Channel will televise weekend final round coverage of the PGA RBC Heritage golf tournament, while on the bowling lanes Fox and FS1 will offer weekend coverage of  the PBA World Series of Bowling tournament.

USA, Peacock and NBC will continue its weekend Premier League coverage with a total of nine live games across Saturday and Sunday. Fox on Sunday will air an MLS contest between LAFC and LA Galaxy 

On the racetrack NBC on Sunday will televise the Grand Prix of Long Beach IndyCar race, while FS1 televises the NASCAR Cup NOCO 400 race. On the baseball diamond, ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball contest will feature the Texas Rangers against the Houston Astros. 

The National Basketball Association will begin its play-in tournament Tuesday night (April 11) as eight teams look to secure their ticket to the first round of the league’s traditional playoffs bracket.

The play-in tournament, first introduced by the league during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, pits eight teams seeded seven through 10 after regular-season play from the Eastern and Western Conferences.

TNT on Tuesday will air the games between the seventh and eighth seeds in the Eastern Conference (Miami Heat-Atlanta Hawks) and the Western Conference (Los Angeles Lakers-Minnesota Timberwolves). The winner of each game automatically advances to the playoffs. 

One Wednesday, ESPN will televise the games between the ninth and 10th seeds in the East (Toronto Raptors-Chicago Bulls) and the West (New Orleans Pelicans-Oklahoma City Thunder). The loser of each game will automatically be eliminated from the playoffs. 

On Friday, TNT will air the game between the loser of Tuesday’s Miami-Atlanta contest and the winner of Wednesday’s Toronto-Chicago game.  ESPN will air the game between Tuesday’s Lakers-Minnesota loser and Wednesday’s New Orleans-Oklahoma City winner. The winners of each game will advance to the playoffs. 

The NBA is hoping to increase interest in its postseason with the play-in tournament. The league averaged 2.4 million viewers for last year’s four-game play-in round, according to published reports.

After two games of the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors are knotted up at one win apiece. But for the entire playoffs, the Celtics actually remain ahead by minutes watched on TV.

Below, we utilize glass-level insights from Vizio’s Inscape, including a panel of more than 19 million active and opted-in smart TVs, to quantify the NBA playoffs on TV through game two of the finals.

• As mentioned, the Celtics have led the way, accounting for 30.38% of playoff minutes watched so far. While part of that lead comes from playing in the NBA Finals, Boston also benefits from playing in seven-game series in both the Eastern Conference Finals (against the Miami Heat) and semifinals (against the Milwaukee Bucks), which naturally boosts watch-time.
• The Warriors are second, at 28.63% of minutes watched due in part to playing in fewer games in the playoffs (18, versus 20 for the Celtics). Golden State won the Western Conference Finals in five games over the Dallas Mavericks, though that series was also well-watched with four of the top 10 games by share of playoff watch-time.
• Trailing the Celtics and Warriors were the Mavericks (21.45% of minutes watched), Heat (19.42%) and the Phoenix Suns (15.67%). Dallas and Miami both played in the conference finals, so more games by default. The Suns, on the other hand, were knocked out in the Western Conference Semifinals but were also the league’s best team this year, so had plenty of eyeballs on them from game-to-game.
• Boston’s lead will continue to extend throughout the NBA Finals now, as they’ll be involved in all remaining games. Despite a lopsided game two win for the Warriors on Sunday, the contest accounted for 3.10% of all NBA playoffs watch-time – slightly more than game one’s share of minutes watched (3.00%). However, game one has also drawn the largest share of the NBA playoffs TV audience, with 27.20% of viewers.
• The two NBA Finals games so far are the most-watched games of the NBA playoffs so far. Boston’s game seven win over the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals is No. 3 at 2.04% of watch-time, and the Celtics game seven win over the Bucks before that is No. 4 at 1.93%. Golden State’s game one matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference Semifinals is a surprising No. 5, with 1.90% of watch-time.
• Among some of the other interesting insights when looking at the NBA playoff audience data: The Toronto Raptors struggled to draw stateside viewers with three of the bottom five games by minutes watched (though, notably, all of those appeared on NBA TV instead of ABC/ESPN/TNT). Of the six play-in games before the full tournament field was set this year, April 15’s matchup between the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers accounted for the largest share of playoff minutes watched, with 0.77%.
• The largest TV markets also failed to factor into much of this year’s audience picture, with both the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks missing the playoffs, the Los Angeles Clippers falling in the play-in games, and the Brooklyn Nets being swept in the first round. Having a well-watched playoff despite New York and L.A.’s relative absence is a positive sign for the league as it eyes its next TV deal.

The NBA playoffs continued to bolster the ratings fortunes of ESPN and TNT last week as both networks finished among the top three most-watched networks on the primetime chart.

ESPN led all cable networks in primetime during the week of May 23-29 with an average of 3.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen. It was bolstered by its May 29 Boston Celtics-Miami Heat Game 7 Eastern Conference Finals telecast, which averaged 9.8 million viewers.

TNT, which drew 6.8 million viewers for Game 5 of the Golden State Warriors-Dallas Mavericks Western Conference Finals on May 26, finished third for the week with 2.2 million viewers.

Fox News Channel came in second place for the week with 2.2 million viewers, while MSNBC pulled into fourth with 1 million viewers and HGTV finished fifth with 921,000 viewers. TLC (848,000 viewers), INSP (754,000), Discovery Channel (746,000), CNN (742,000) and History (740,000) rounded out the top 10 most-watched networks in primetime.

Fox News increased its winning streak on the total day charts to 21 weeks with an average of 1.4 million viewers, followed by ESPN (928,000), MSNBC (664,000), TNT (645,000) and CNN (548,000), according to Nielsen. ■ 

Below is a snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of May 23-29, highlighting the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and network and show TV ad impressions insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 19 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

With conference finals concluded, the NBA once again keeps its watch-time lead with 2.81% of all minutes watched from May 23-29. That’s up from 2.69% the previous week despite fewer games, as the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors both secured trips to the NBA Finals.

Some additional insights about the top programming on TV:

• Beyond the NBA, live sports remains hot, making up seven of the top 25 programs – including the NHL (No. 3), college softball (No. 9), college baseball (No. 11), PGA Tour golf (No. 13), French Open tennis (No. 15) and MLB (No. 16).
• Good Morning America and Today both make week-over-week moves by minutes watched, with the former jumping from No. 7 to No. 4 in our ranking.
• “Regular” SportsCenter is joined by SportsCenter With Scott Van Pelt in our ranking. The two combined for 1.29% of minutes watched from May 23-29.
• NCIS moves from No. 6 to No. 2 in our ranking week-over-week, securing 0.90% watch-time.

CBS keeps the top spot as the most-watched network, thanks in part to the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge, which featured Sam Burns besting Scottie Scheffler in a playoff. The network had 6.61% of watch-time on the week.

Additional insights around the most-watched networks from May 23-29:

• Watch-time increased for both CNN and MSNBC amid coverage of the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
• In anticipation of Memorial Day cookouts, Food Network leaned into holiday-specific content – and saw total minutes watched rise from 1.23% to 1.36% week-over-week.
• Yellowstone wins again as Paramount Network climbs from No. 40 to No. 23 by watch-time week-over-week thanks in large part to marathon viewing of the show.
• NBC and ABC flip-flop as the former benefits from the Indy 500 (among other programming) to hop from No. 3 to No. 2 in our ranking week-over-week.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

NBA TV ad impressions rose by over 6% week-over-week, with the conference finals delivering 3.25 billion impressions – or nearly 3.5 times more impressions than the nearest program (SportsCenter).

More data about the top programs by TV ad impressions:

• With an assist from its two-part season 18 finale, Grey’s Anatomy arrives in our ranking at No. 25 by impressions, after finishing outside the top 50 the previous week.
• Speaking of finales, Survivor wrapped up season 42 and delivered 0.95% of TV ad impressions on the week (No. 18 in our ranking).
• National MLB game TV ad impressions climbed by nearly 5% week-over-week, while minutes of advertising climbed by slightly more (over 7% on the week).
• Today made big moves week-over-week, as impressions soared by almost 15% week-over-week, and the show’s third hour saw a 16% climb.

CBS leads our ad-impressions-by-network ranking once again, with 14.37% of impressions on the week. Quiz and giveaway shows (including The Price Is Right and Let’s Make A Deal) account for close to 20% of the network’s impressions for the week.

Additional insights around the top networks by impressions:

• ESPN jumps from 6.3% to 7.7% of TV ad impressions week-over-week, with the NBA and NHL combining for nearly half of the network’s impressions from May 23-29.
• Discovery Channel boosts impressions by 18.7% week-over-week, leaning on new episodes of shows such as Expedition Unknown: Uncovered, Deadliest Catch and Street Outlaws: America’s List.
• Spanish-language networks Univision, Telemundo, and Galavision all make week-over-week gains by impressions share of voice, with Univision leading the way at 4.46% (No. 7 overall).
• History Channel climbs to No. 22 in our ranking (up from No. 24 the previous week), with TV ad impressions for The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch nearly doubling week-over-week.

Below is a snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of May 16-22, showcasing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and network and show TV ad impressions insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 19 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

As the NBA Playoffs progress to the conference finals, they retain a lead by watch-time with 2.69% of minutes watched from May 16-22. Close on the NBA’s heels, however, is the 2022 PGA Championship, with 2.54% of watch-time.

Some additional insights about the top programming on TV:

• SportsCenter jumps to No. 4 by minutes watched, up from No. 10 the previous week, while increasing share of watch-time from 0.62% to 0.96%.
• The regional round of the Women’s College World Series helps college softball climb from No. 42 by minutes watched to No. 13 week-over-week.
• Coinciding with the theatrical release of Downton Abbey: A New Era, audiences watched plenty of Downton Abbey on TV, as the show accounted for 0.52% of the week’s watch-time.
• The First 48 gained a larger share of minutes watched week-over-week, from 0.42% to 0.48%, fueling a move from No. 20 to No. 16 by watch-time.

CBS supplants ABC as the most-watched network, thanks in part to the 2022 PGA Championship. The network hits 7.56% of watch-time on the week, which is up from 6.49% the previous week.

Additional insights around the most-watched networks from May 16-22:

• PGA Championship coverage has also been a boon to ESPN, which progresses from No. 7 to No. 6 by watch-time week-over-week.
• Paw Patrol powers part of Nickelodeon’s own week-over-week rise by minutes watched, from No. 19 to No. 16.
• TLC makes a modest climb from No. 20 to No. 19 week-over-week, thanks in part to both 90 Day Fiancé and 90 Day: The Single Life.
• USA Network makes a week-over-week watch-time move from No. 18 to No. 15, with assists from WWE Monday Night Raw and coverage of the final weekend of English Premier League action.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Despite fewer playoff games week-over-week, the NBA maintains its TV ad impressions lead, with 3.06 billion from May 16-22 — 5.98% of the week’s impressions overall. That’s almost double the share of impressions for the second-place programming, the PGA Championship, with 3.22% on the week.

More data about the top programs by TV ad impressions:

• More than half of this week’s top 25 programs by impressions are news and talk-related, led by Good Morning America at No. 4 (with 1.90% of impressions).
• Speaking of, GMA increased week-over-week impressions by 10.7%, despite slipping from No. 3 to No. 4 in our ranking.
• Impressions for The View climbed by more than 5% week-over-week, fueling a move from No. 16 to No. 14 in our ranking.
• Sports accounts for four of the top 10 spots by impressions, with that programming programs — the NBA, PGA Championship, SportsCenter and the NHL — accounting for 12.9% of the week’s ad impressions.

CBS stays at No. 1 in our ad-impressions-by-network ranking, collecting 15.95% of impressions on the week, which is up from 13.37% the previous week.

Additional insights around the top networks by impressions:

• ESPN got a boost from the PGA Championship (and other programs), making a short climb from No. 6 to No. 5 by impressions week-over-week.
• Of the cable news networks, both Fox News and MSNBC increased impressions week-over-week, with the former jumping by 6.4% and the latter by 0.7%.
• College softball accounts for about a third of ESPN2’s impressions on the week, as the network hops from No. 18 to No. 15 in our ranking.
• The Weather Channel is a week-over-week newcomer in our ranking, growing impressions from 0.44% (No. 29) to 0.49% (No. 25).

Below is a snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of May 9-15, showcasing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and network and show TV ad impressions insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 19 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

The NBA and NHL continue their dominance of both TV watch-time and ad impressions. The NBA leads with 4.70% of overall watch-time, up from 3.92% last week. Meanwhile the NHL maintains a close second at 1.38% of watch-time, roughly even with the 1.33% from the previous week. 

Some additional insights about the top programming on TV:

• Crime procedurals remain viewer favorites, with seven populating the list. Of them, Chicago P.D. saw the highest week-over-week spike, rising from No. 23 last week to No. 11 this week.
• Law & Order re-entered the top 25, as did Family Feud.
• Syndicated sitcoms continue to do well, with Friends (No. 7), Two and a Half Men (No. 17) and The Golden Girls (No. 23) all roughly maintaining their relative positions week-over-week.

ABC continues its run as the most-watched network for a fifth consecutive week, largely due to the NBA Playoffs. The network fell slightly in overall minutes watched to 6.67% (from 7.05% last week) — which was still good enough to ward off a surging CBS, which passed NBC to take second place with 6.49% of minutes watched. NBC fell to third with 6.20%. 

Additional insights around the most-watched networks for the week:

• Ion and IFC flip positions, with Ion jumping a spot in the rankings from No. 9 to No. 8, and vice versa.
• TNT retains its No. 6 position on the strength of NHL and NBA playoff games, while overall minutes watched increased from 3.55% to 3.83%.
• The week’s biggest jump comes from TBS, spiking from No. 18 to No. 16 on the back of a 7% increase in minutes watched.
• Bravo enters the list at No. 25 — the only newcomer for the week.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

The top TV shows by ad impressions ranking is dominated by NBA playoff games, which increased overall impressions to 4.9 billion from 4.3 billion last week. Second-place NHL playoffs increased ad impressions from 1.02 billion to 1.08 billion. 

More data about the top programs by TV ad impressions:

• The PGA Golf Tour rose to No. 8 from No. 18, increasing to over 566 million impressions.
• American Idol fell to No. 19 from No. 10, shedding over 193 million impressions vs. the previous week.
• Game shows increased their presence, with The Price Is Right rising a spot to No. 5, and Let’s Make a Deal entering the list at No. 14 after not appearing at all last week.
• Primetime news shows both gained and lost. ABC World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News both rose a spot week-over-week, while America’s Newsroom fell from No. 16 to No. 22, and Special Report With Bret Baier fell off the list completely, replaced by Jesse Watters Primetime at No. 24.

There was little change in the ad-impressions-by-network ranking, with ABC continuing to ride the NBA playoffs to the No. 1 spot despite impressions falling to 6.93 billion from 7.05 billion the previous week. 

Additional insights around the top networks by impressions:

• The top six networks all held their chart positions, despite a slight decline in overall impressions week-over-week.
• Univision overtook CNN for the No. 7 spot by a hair (just 7 million impressions), while Fox gained ground over Telemundo to enter the top 10.
• Bravo entered the list this week at No. 20, while the History Channel fell off completely.

This weekend’s lineup of TV sports events starts on the ice as the first round of the NHL playoffs commences with five, game-seven matchups over the weekend. 

ESPN will televise the Saturday afternoon contest between the Boston Bruins and the Carolina Hurricanes as well a late night game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Edmonton Oilers. TNT will air a primetime matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

On Sunday, NHL Playoff game-seven matchups include the Dallas Stars battling the Calgary Flames and the Pittsburgh Penguins facing the New York Rangers. 

On the basketball court, the NBA Playoffs will conclude its second round with two,  game-seven matchups on Sunday. The Milwaukee Bucks will travel to Boston to meet the Celtics in the final game of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on ABC, while the Phoenix Suns will host the Dallas Mavericks in a Western Conference semifinal series matchup on TNT. 

In the boxing ring, Showtime will televise a Saturday night boxing card headlined by the Jermell Charlo-Brian Castano rematch junior middleweight unification championship bout. Also, FITE TV will distribute the Sergey Kovalev-Tervel Pulev cruiserweight bout. 

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast pits the San Francisco Giants against the St. Louis Cardinals. 

CBS and Golf Channel will feature final round weekend coverage from the LPGA’s Founders Cup and the PGA’s Byron Nelson golf tournaments, while USA Network and Peacock will air multiple Premier League games on Sunday.

NBC on Saturday afternoon will televise the IndyCar GMR Grand Prix auto race. On Sunday, FS1 will air the NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 race. ■ 

Below is a snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of May 2-8, showcasing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and network and show TV ad impressions insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 19 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Entertaining conference semifinal series mean the NBA playoffs are once again the most-watched programming in this week’s watch-time ranking. From May 2-8, the NBA accounted for 3.92% of all TV minutes watched -- up from 3.53% the previous week, despite fewer games.

Some additional insights about the top programming on TV:

• The first round of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs meant wall-to-wall hockey across ESPN networks and TNT, and 1.33% of the week’s minutes watched.
• Despite a race that ran just two minutes, the 148th Kentucky Derby still scored 0.69% of TV watch-time on the week.
• Along with hockey and the Kentucky Derby, ABC World News Tonight With David Muir is the other week-over-week newcomer in our ranking by watch-time, moving up from No. 30 to No. 24.
• Syndicated sitcoms held strong for another week, with Friends (No. 9), Two and a Half Men (No. 15) and The Golden Girls (No. 22) all appearing in this week’s ranking.

ABC remains the most-watched network for a fourth consecutive week, thanks in part to the NBA playoffs. The network scored 7.05% of minutes watched for the week, edging out NBC (6.45%) and CBS (6.40%) for the top spot.

More insights around the most-watched networks from May 2-8:

• IFC climbs again, from No. 9 to No. 8 by watch-time, once again relying on syndicated sitcoms like Two and a Half Men, Everybody Loves Raymond and Parks and Recreation.
• NHL and NBA playoff action fueled a modest minutes-watched climb for TNT, increasing watch-time from 3.14% to 3.55% week-over-week.
• History Channel vaults from No. 23 to No. 20 by watch-time, via new episodes of The Curse of Oak Island, among other programs.
• INSP is the lone week-over-week network newcomer, moving up from No. 26 to No. 25 by minutes watched thanks in part to Gunsmoke syndicated airings.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

NBA playoff games still reign supreme with the most TV ad impressions from May 2-8, delivering more than 4.3 billion -- 8.3% of the total on TV and more than four times the impressions served by the Stanley Cup playoffs (the No. 2 program).

More data about the top programs by TV ad impressions:

• The Kentucky Derby is No. 7 by share of impressions on the week, with 1.37% as viewers tuned in both before and after the country’s most popular horse race.
• With over a billion TV ad impressions during the first week of playoff action, the NHL increased impressions by nearly 25x compared to the final week of the regular season.
• Live sports remained a big impressions draw this week, with the NBA (No. 1), NHL (No. 2), Kentucky Derby (No. 7), MLB (No. 11) and PGA Tour (No. 18) all finishing among the top 25 programs by impressions.
• The View increased impressions by nearly 16% week-over-week, inching up from No. 18 to No. 17 in our ranking.

ABC’s NBA Playoffs emphasis delivers the top spot in our ad-impressions-by-network ranking again, from May 2-8. The NBA accounted for nearly 15% of the network’s impressions on the week.

Additional insights around the top networks by impressions from May 2-8:

• Kentucky Derby coverage is among the biggest reasons for NBC’s 15% week-over-week impressions increase, as the race accounted for over 700 million impressions for the network.
• Popular reality show Exatlón Estados Unidos delivered over 22% of Telemundo impressions for the week, powering a jump from No. 11 to No. 10 in our ranking, week-over-week.
• Fox Sports 1 impressions rise 31% week-over-week, thanks in large part to NASCAR coverage on the network (accounting for over 53% of FS1’s impressions for the week).
• Programming on May 2 accounted for almost 25% of Fox’s impressions for the week, thanks to 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star.

Fox News’ one-week ratings winning streak in primetime is over as TNT once again rode its NBA playoffs coverage to the top of the chart.

TNT averaged 2.9 million subscribers in primetime during the period of May 2 to May 8 to finish with top honors, topping second place Fox News’ 2.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Sports network ESPN, which along with TNT is airing second round NBA playoff games, finished third with 1.3 million viewers.

Also: ABC Wins Watch-Time, Impressions With NFL Draft and NBA Playoffs: TV By the Numbers

HGTV finished fourth with 1 million viewers, followed by MSNBC’s 996,000 viewers and INSP’s 848,000 viewers. History (819,000 viewers), Hallmark Channel (792,000), TLC (781,000) and Discovery Channel (717,000) rounded out the top 10 most watched cable networks in primetime.

Fox News ran its streak of consecutive today total day wins to 18 weeks with an average of 1.4 million viewers, followed by TNT (835,000), MSNBC (631,000), ESPN (728,000) and HGTV (552,000), reported Nielsen. ■

The weekend TV sports lineup for the Mother’s Day holiday weekend starts on the pro basketball court with second round coverage of the NBA Playoffs. 

On Saturday, ABC will offer game three coverage of the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks series, followed by primetime coverage of the Memphis Grizzlies-Golden State Warriors game three contest. 

On Sunday, ESPN will televise game four of the Phoenix Suns-Dallas Mavericks series, followed by TNT game four coverage of the Miami Heat-Philadelphia 76’ers series. 

The WNBA opens the first weekend of its 2022 regular season with two matchups on Saturday – ESPN’s Connecticut Sun-New York Liberty and CBSSN’s Atlanta Dream-Dallas Wings telecasts – as well as a Sunday ESPN doubleheader featuring the Washington Mystics-Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm-Las Vegas Aces games.

On Saturday, the NHL playoffs continue with first round coverage of the Florida Panthers-Washington Capitals series on ESPN, followed by a TNT tripleheader that includes the Colorado Avalanche-Nashville Predators, NY Rangers-Pittsburgh Penguins and Calgary Flames-Dallas Stars series. 

NBC on Saturday will televise live the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby from Churchill Downs in Louisville. Also Saturday, the National Women’s Soccer League will hold its Challenge Cup final between the Washington Spirit and the North Carolina Courage, which will air live on CBS. 

In the octagon, ESPN Plus will stream the UFC 274 pay-per-view fight card featuring the main event match between lightweights Charles Oliveria and Justin Gaethje. In the ring, DAZN and PPV.com will offer the Canelo Alvarez-Dmitry Bivol light heavyweight championship fight. 

Also: Digital Sportsplay: In Demand Punches Up Streaming Pay-Per-View Service

On the links, CBS and Golf Channel will televise the final rounds of the PGA Wells Fargo Championship pro golf event. On the bowling lanes, Fox on Sunday will televise the semifinal round of the KIA PBA Playoffs.

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast features National League rivals the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Chicago Cubs. ■ 

Below is a snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of April 25-May 1, showcasing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and network and show TV ad impressions insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 19 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

NBA playoff games are TV’s most-watched programming again in this week’s watch-time ranking. From April 25-May 1, NBA games accounted for 3.53% of all TV minutes watched as viewers tuned into the end of the first round of the postseason and the start of conference semifinal series.

Some additional insights about the top programming on TV:

• NFL Draft coverage across ABC, ESPN and NFL Network scored 2.52% of watch-time as teams picked 262 new players in three days.
• NCIS: New Orleans jumps from No. 20 to No. 12 week-over-week, and is one of seven procedurals among our top 25 programs.
• Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives pulls into our top 25 rankings at No. 22, up from No. 32 the previous week.
• With so much NFL Draft and NBA action, viewers were bound to miss some highlights, which helped fuel SportsCenter’s rise from No. 8 to No. 5 week-over-week.

Coverage of the NFL Draft and NBA playoffs helped ABC maintain its spot as the most-watched network for the third consecutive week. ABC tallied 7.26% of minutes watched for the week, which is up from 6.76% from April 18-24.

More insights around the most-watched networks from April 25-May 1:

• Speaking of the draft, the three-day event was enough to push ESPN up from No. 7 to No. 6 week-over-week, swapping places with TNT.
• IFC rode syndicated sitcoms like Two and a Half Men and Everybody Loves Raymond to a modest increase from No. 10 to No. 9 by watch-time week-over-week.
• More baseball meant more minutes watched for TBS, as MLB (with an assist from wrestling) drove a one-spot rise from No. 19 to No. 18 week-over-week.
• The CW’s primetime slate helped push the network to No. 20 this week, up from No. 23 the week of April 18-24.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

NBA playoff games delivered the most TV ad impressions from April 25 to May 1, with 3.92 billion (7.73% of the impressions total for the week). That’s more than double the number of impressions for the No. 2 programming, the three-day NFL Draft.

More data about the top programs by TV ad impressions:

• Despite “just” moving from No. 6 to No. 5 week-over-week, SportsCenter impressions climbed by 25% when compared to April 18-24.
• MSNBC’s Morning Joe is one of several news-focused programs on the move, jumping from No. 30 to No. 25 by impressions week-over-week.
• Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime is also new to our rankings this week, climbing from No. 26 to No. 22 by impressions.
• Despite both shows each dropping by one spot in our rankings week-over-week, both Good Morning America (up 6%) and Today (up 12%) increased impressions week-over-week.

Tentpole programming paid off for ABC, which seizes the top spot in our ad-impressions-by-network ranking from April 25 to May 1. ABC’s NBA playoffs and NFL Draft broadcasts were a big part of the network delivering 13.9% of the week’s TV ad impressions.

Additional insights around the top networks by impressions from April 25-May 1:

• Speaking of the NFL Draft, NFL Network’s simulcast of the event helped push the cable channel to No. 20 in our rankings (up considerably from No. 59 the previous week).
• Cable news keeps climbing, as both Fox News (up 9%) and MSNBC (up 5%) increased impressions week-over-week.
• Car racing keeps up the pace for Fox Sports 1, accounting for about 50% of the network’s impressions for the week as FS1 soars from No. 19 to No. 14 in our ranking.
• Primetime and daytime programming were responsible for the lion’s share of CBS impressions for the week, combining for nearly 71% on the week.

This weekend’s schedule of TV sports events begins on the basketball court with second round coverage of the NBA Playoffs.

ABC on Sunday will televise Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal matchup between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics. Milwaukee enters the second round having defeated the Chicago Bulls four games to one, while Boston enters the series having swept the Brooklyn Nets.

In other sports, ESPN on Sunday will travel to New York for its Sunday Night Baseball telecast featuring the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets.

ESPN will step into the boxing ring Saturday with a primetime fight card featuring junior lightweights Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez. Also Saturday, DAZN will televise the women's lightweight unification bout between champion Katie Taylor and contender Amanda Serrano.

In the octagon, ESPN on Saturday will televise a UFC Fight Night main event bout featuring bantamweights Rob Font and Marlon Vera.

In pro football, ESPN and ABC will continue its coverage of the NFL Draft, while the USFL enters its third week with two games on Fox, including the Tampa Bay-Houston and Pittsburgh-Michigan matchups. On Sunday, USA Network will televise the Birmingham-New Orleans game.

The Golf Channel and CBS will offer final round coverage of the PGA Mexico Open pro golf tournament. On the auto racing track, NBC on Sunday will televise the IndyCar Grand Prix of Alabama and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

On the soccer field, USA, CNBC, NBC and Peacock will all feature Premier League games throughout the weekend.

Below is a snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of April 18-24, showcasing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and network and show TV ad impressions insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 19 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

With the NBA playoffs in full swing, the league is once again the most-watched program in this week’s watch-time ranking. From April 18-24, NBA playoff games accounted for 5.06% of all TV minutes watched — up from 3.12% the previous week.

Some additional insights about the top programming on TV:

• Chicago Fire is hot both live and in syndication, as the show climbs the ladder from No. 9 to No. 5 by minutes watched week-over-week.
• NBA playoffs action means more eyeballs on highlights as well, as SportsCenter makes modest week-over-week watch-time gains, moving from No. 10 to No. 8.
• The NASCAR Cup Series’ GEICO 500 race drove a week-over-week minutes-watched increase from No. 47 to No. 22.
• Paw Patrol nabbed more watch-time compared to a week ago, leaping from No. 41 to No. 21 in our ranking.

ABC narrowly tops the most-watched network rankings for a second straight week, thanks in part to the continued attention paid to the NBA playoffs. As a result, ABC scores 6.76% of minutes watched for the week (vs. 6.69% for CBS).

More insights around the most-watched networks from April 18-24:

• Speaking of the NBA playoffs, fellow league partner TNT jumps from No. 11 to No. 6 week-over-week, thanks to an abundance of games all week.
• HGTV moves from No. 10 to No. 9 by watch-time week-over-week, with that shift  fueled by a decent-sized bounce from 1.76% of minutes watched to 2.03%.
• Some of the other cable networks to increase share of watch-time week-over-week: IFC (from 1.94% to 1.99%), Hallmark Channel (1.72% to 1.77%) and Nickelodeon (1.25% to 1.30%).

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

NBA playoff games collected nearly 5.3 billion TV ad impressions from April 18-24 – 10.43% of the impressions total for the week. That’s nearly six times the number of impressions for the No. 2 program, Good Morning America.

More data about the top programs by TV ad impressions:

• NASCAR Cup Series coverage flies to No. 11 by TV ad impressions, nearly doubling impressions compared to the previous week.
• News and talk programming delivered ad impressions en masse once again, accounting for more than half of the top 25 shows in our ranking this week.
• Daytime soap operas increased impressions week-over-week, as The Young and The Restless (up 7.9%), General Hospital (up 23.0%) and Days Of Our Lives (up 11.8%) all climb.
• American Idol remains among the top five programs by ad impressions as the show enters the live show portion of the competition.

CBS is on top of our ad-impressions-by-network ranking again from April 18-24, with almost 14.5% of TV ad impressions during the timeframe. While primetime programming accounts for 36.2% of those impressions, daytime isn’t far behind at 34.2% for the week.

Additional insights around the top networks by impressions from April 18-24:

• NBA playoff games and resulting coverage vault TNT from No. 9 to No. 5 in our ranking, more than doubling impressions week-over-week.
• Fox Sports 1 delivered 31% more TV ad impressions week-over-week, thanks in large part to USFL action and NHRA drag racing.
• NASCAR delivered for Fox, as the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and RaceDay accounted for nearly 39% of the network’s impressions for the week.
• Cable news continues to retain its ability to serve a significant number of ad impressions, as Fox News, CNN and MSNBC alone accounted for over 19% of the total for the week.

TNT outdueled Fox News Channel for first place on the primetime basic-cable ratings charts for the last full week of April, according to Nielsen.

TNT, benefiting from coverage of the first round of the NBA Playoffs, averaged 2.6 million viewers for the week of April 18-24 to end Fox News’s three-week winning streak. The cable-news channel finished second with 2.2 million viewers, followed by ESPN’s 1.3 million viewers and MSNBC’s 1.1 million watchers. 

HGTV finished fifth with 1 million viewers, followed by TLC (895,000 viewers); Hallmark Channel (874,000); Discovery Channel and History (tied with 804,000); and INSP (796,000).

On a total-day basis, Fox News finished first for the 16th consecutive week, averaging 1.4 million viewers, followed by TNT (915,000), MSNBC (670,000) HGTV (561,000) and ESPN (557,000), Nielsen reported. ■

The TV sports lineup for the last full weekend of April begins on the basketball court as the first round of the NBA playoffs rolls on. On TNT Saturday, the Philadelphia 76’ers will look to eliminate the Toronto Raptors in the series’ fourth game, while the Utah Jazz will look to even up its series at two wins each with the Dallas Mavericks.

On ESPN, the Boston Celtics will look to take a 3-0 lead in its best-of-seven game series with the Brooklyn Nets, while the Memphis Grizzlies will look to take a 3-1 lead on the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

Sunday’s action includes ABC-televised games featuring game four of the Milwaukee Bucks-Chicago Bulls and Golden State-Denver series, while TNT will telecast game four of both the Miami Heat-Atlanta Hawks and the Phoenix Suns-New Orleans Pelicans series. 

In the ring, ESPN Plus will distribute a Saturday afternoon pay-per-view boxing match between heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and contender Dillon Whyte.

Also: Errol Spence, Tyson Fury, Canelo Alvarez to Step into PPV Boxing Ring

On the track, Fox on Saturday will air the Xfinity Ag-Pro 300 auto race and on Sunday the NASCAR Cup GEICO 500 race. 

The final weekend of the NHL regular season will feature an ABC televised matchup between the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins and a Sunday TNT telecast of the Pittsburgh Penguins-Philadelphia Flyers matchup. 

On the soccer field, USA Network, CNBC, NBC and Peacock will feature Premier League games throughout the weekend, while ESPN and FS1 will offer MLS games on Sunday. 

The USFL will enter its second week with three weekend telecasts, including Fox’s Pittsburgh-Philadelphia and FS1’s Birmingham-Houston games on Saturday and NBC’s New Orleans-Tampa Bay game telecast on Sunday. 

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball matchup will feature the Milwaukee Brewers and the Philadelphia Phillies. ■

Below is a snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of April 11-17, showcasing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and network and show TV ad impressions insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 19 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Between play-in games and playoff series games on Saturday and Sunday, the NBA leaps to the top spot in this week’s watch-time ranking. From April 11-17, NBA games accounted for 3.12% of all TV minutes watched — up from 0.93% during the final week of the regular season.

Some additional insights about the top programming on TV:

• During its first full week of action this season, Major League Baseball is No. 6 by watch-time (up from No. 7 the previous week).
• USFL football premieres on Fox to 0.44% of minutes watched on the week (No. 21 overall).
• Crime fuels some of the week’s biggest watch-time gains, including The First 48 (from No. 35 to No. 19 week-over-week) and Forensic Files (from No. 32 to No. 22 week-over-week).
• American Idol also makes week-over-week moves, from No. 22 to No. 14 by minutes watched as the competitor field on the show narrows to the top 20 singers.

ABC ends CBS’s five-week reign as the most-watched network in our rankings. Thanks in part to the NBA Playoffs, ABC leaps over CBS, collecting 6.98% of minutes watched (vs. 6.87% for CBS).

More insights around the most-watched networks from April 11-17:

• ABC isn’t the only network benefiting from the NBA Playoffs, as TNT climbs from No. 21 to No. 11 week-over-week due in part to postseason action.
• USA Network makes modest gains, going from No. 17 to No. 15 week-over-week by watch-time, with help from procedurals, wrestling and the USFL.
• Discovery Channel and A&E Network are the two week-over-week newcomers to our ranking, coming in at No. 24 and No. 25, respectively.
• History Channel moves from No. 23 to No. 21 by minutes watched week-over-week as viewers tuned into airings of The Bible miniseries leading into Easter Sunday.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Starting with play-in games on Tuesday, the NBA Playoffs are in full swing and delivering the most TV ad impressions of any programming as a result. From April 11-17, NBA games accounted for nearly 3.3 billion impressions -- or 6.65% of the total for the week.

More data about the top programs by TV ad impressions:

• American Idol flies up to No. 2 by impressions, tacking on another 100 million compared to the previous week.
• A full week of games propelled an impressions increase of more than 62% for MLB week-over-week.
• CBS’s broadcast of the 2022 CMT Music Awards scored 1.05% of the week’s TV ad impressions.
• Even after postponing one of its season-opening games due to weather, the USFL still wound up delivering more than 430 million TV ad impressions on the week (0.87% of the total).

CBS stays on top of our ad-impressions-by-network ranking from April 11-17, with nearly 15% of TV ad impressions during the period. On the week, three different CBS programs accounted for at least 500 million impressions, including The Price Is Right, The Young and the Restless and the CMT Music Awards.

Additional insights around the top networks by impressions from the week:

• NBC climbs one spot to No. 3 by TV ad impressions, courtesy of its usual stable of news-related programming, plus the USFL’s debut.
• MLB Network impressions more than double week-over-week, from 563 million to 1.44 billion.
• The NBA Playoffs power week-over-week impressions increases across all of the league’s network partners: ABC is up 4%, ESPN is up 24% and TNT is up 132%.
• Food Network hops from No. 26 by impressions to No. 19 this week, as audiences tuned into Sunday’s Tournament of Champions finale (accounting for 22% of the network’s impressions on the week).

Highlighted with a buzzer-beater win by the Boston Celtics over the New Jersey Nets on ABC Sunday afternoon, the NBA just had its best first-round linear TV audience in more than a decade. 

According to Nielsen data compiled by the league, the opening weekend of the 2022 NBA Playoffs averaged 4.05 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and TNT. That's the NBA's best playoff opening weekend since 2011. 

Sunday's Celtics-vs.-Nets series opener averaged 6.9 million viewers and peaked at 9.8 million watchers, making it the most viewed first-round game since 2016.

The NBA averaged 2.89 million viewers across the same platforms on opening weekend of its playoffs last season, which was a dramatic 49% improvement over the delayed pandemic "bubble" format that bottomed out the league's TV audience in 2020.

The NBA wrapped up last year's first round averaging 3.06 million viewers across the same linear platforms, its best numbers in three seasons. ▪️

 The TV sports lineup for the Easter holiday weekend starts on the football field as the USFL kicks off its inaugural season on Saturday. 

Fox and NBC on Saturday will simulcast the eight-team league’s first game between the New Jersey Generals and the Birmingham Stallions. 

Sunday’s games include Houston Gamblers-Michigan Panthers (NBC), Philadelphia Stars-New Orleans Breakers (USA) and Tampa Bay Bandits-Pittsburgh Maulers (FS1). The USFL's 10-week season will run through June. 

Also: USFL Kicks Off Inaugural Season: TV Sportsplay 

The NBA Playoffs tip off this weekend with first-round play throughout the weekend. On Saturday ESPN will air the Utah Jazz-Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves-Memphis Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors-Philadelphia 76’ers games, while ABC telecasts the Denver Nuggets-Golden State Warriors matchup.

On Sunday, ABC will air the Brooklyn Nets-Boston Celtics game, and TNT will televise the Chicago Bulls-Milwaukee Bucks contest.

Also: NBA Playoff Ads Nearly sold Out as Post Season Launches on ESPN, TNT

On the ice, ABC on Saturday will televise the Minnesota Wild-St. Louis Blues game, and ESPN on Sunday will telecast the Florida Panthers-Detroit Red Wings matchup.

Showtime on Saturday will step into the pay-per-view boxing ring to distribute the Errol Spence Jr.-Yordenis Ugas welterweight boxing championship fight.

Also: Showtime Punches Up Marketing Efforts for Errol Spence-Yordenis Ugas PPV Boxing Event 

Fox on Sunday hits the race track for the NASCAR Cup City Dirt Race, and ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will feature a matchup between the 2021 World Series champion Atlanta Braves and the San Diego Padres. 

CBS and the Golf Channel will offer final round coverage of  the PGA RBC Heritage golf tournament throughout the weekend, while streaming service Peacock, CNBC and USA Network will televise live Premier League soccer matches. ■ 

Our snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of July 12-18 shines a spotlight on the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Though the NBA Finals are still ongoing, a new program has taken the lead in terms of minutes watched on TV. During the week of July 12-18, the Open Championship (the British Open, to some) took first place with 1.92% of watch-time. After topping the previous week’s ranking, the NBA Finals fall one spot to second, with 1.26% of minutes watched.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit remains No. 3 for the week with 1.12% of watch-time, followed by Good Morning America (0.89%) and Today (0.70%). SVU is one of numerous dramas to appear in this week’s ranking. Some of the others include NCIS (No. 9), NCIS: New Orleans (No. 10), Gunsmoke (No. 13), Law & Order (No. 19), Forensic Files (No. 24) and Criminal Minds (No. 25).

Major League Baseball was off for much of the week, but still managed 0.43% of watch-time to rank No. 18 overall. However, the 2021 MLB All-Star Game is all the way up at No. 11, with 0.52% of minutes watched. The CONCACAF Gold Cup’s group stages are a few places ahead, ranking No. 8 before the soccer event transitions to the knockout rounds that should lead to a hotly anticipated championship match between rival U.S. and Mexican national teams.

Also Read: Summer 2021 TV Premiere Dates

ABC maintains its lead in the watch-time ranking for the second week in a row, thanks in part to the NBA Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns. The network has 6.97% of total minutes watched, keeping it ahead of NBC in second place with 6.37%. CBS is in third again, with 5.29% of watch-time. Fox rides sports to leap from No. 5 to No. 4 with 4.08% of minutes watched, while Fox News rounds out the top five at 3.94%.

IFC makes the chart’s biggest week-over-week leap, from not appearing among the top 50 to placing 10th overall. Discovery Channel rides Shark Week from No. 20 to No. 15. The Golf Channel, after splitting final round coverage of the Open Championship with NBC, jumps from No. 50 to No. 23 with 1.21% of watch-time. TV Land closes out the top 25 ranking for July 12-18, at 1.16% of minutes watched.

Top Shows and Networks By TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

The NBA Finals deliver the most TV ad impressions yet again, with over 1.6 billion from July 12-18. Also topping the 1 billion impressions mark are both the 2021 Open Championship (1.4 billion) and Major League Baseball (1.1 billion). Good Morning America (872 million TV ad impressions) and Today (661 million) round out the top five.

News and talk programming makes up about 60% of this week’s top 25 shows by TV ad impressions. Sports are 20%, while reality TV is 12%. Speaking of reality TV, Big Brother and Love Island are among the biggest movers for the week, with each climbing more than five spots (Big Brother actually leaps from 23rd to 11th).

ABC stays on top of the week’s ad-impressions-by-network ranking, with over 6.2 billion from June 12-18. While ABC is airing the NBA Finals, NBC just completed the Open Championship and will be launching into Summer Olympics coverage shortly. NBC is No. 2 for the week, with 4.6 billion TV ad impressions.

Fox News edges up one spot to No. 3 with 4.13 billion impressions, followed by CBS (4.10 billion) and MSNBC (2.5 billion). Final round Open Championship coverage vaults the Golf Channel up from No. 19 to No. 11. Food Network moves from 25th up to 20th, while Investigation Discovery closes out the weekly ranking this time around.

Below, our snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of July 5-11, shining a spotlight on the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio's Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio's TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

The NBA Finals are well underway between the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, and after the first three games of the series, the NBA once again leads in minutes watched on TV. During the week of July 5-11, the NBA Finals remained in first place with 1.77% of watch-time (down just slightly from the week prior, when both conference finals series were still going on).

Entering its own final round, the 2021 Wimbledon Championships vault up to second place this week with 1.19% of minutes watched. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Good Morning America come in third and fourth, respectively. MLB games round out the top five shows by watch-time, with 0.75% of minutes watched.

Sports programming peppers the rest of the top 25 as well. ESPN’s SportsCenter sits at No. 10 with 0.55% of watch-time, while the NHL’s Stanley Cup Final is No. 15 after the Tampa Bay Lightning took home the franchise’s second straight championship. The 2020 European Championships (soccer) culminated with an Italy win and a No. 21 ranking by minutes watched. PGA Tour action follows closely behind at No. 22.

Love It or List It and Two and a Half Men are both new to this week’s top 25, as the former jumped up from outside the top 50 shows by watch-time to claim No. 24. The latter was No. 28 the previous week, and finished No. 23 this time around.

Also Read: Summer 2021 TV Premiere Dates

Following three straight weeks with NBC leading the watch-time ranking, ABC makes a one-spot jump back to No. 1. The network benefits from the NBA Finals en route to 7.09% of total minutes watched. NBC's down just one spot to No. 2 with 5.60% of watch-time, followed by CBS (5.29%), Fox News (3.76%) and Fox (3.50%). Baseball, primetime reality TV and game shows are what helped push Fox up from sixth the previous week.

Hallmark makes the chart’s biggest move of the week, from No. 17 to No. 10, followed by Univision from No. 16 to No. 11. The start of Shark Week helps Discovery Channel swim upstream from No. 25 to No. 20, with 1.24% of minutes watched. Bravo was No. 25 this week, with 1.07% of watch-time.

Top Shows and Networks By TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

As one would expect, the NBA Finals deliver the most TV ad impressions, keeping the NBA atop this list once again. The Finals had nearly 2.5 billion TV ad impressions from July 5-11 — almost 1.6 billion more than the No. 2 show, Good Morning America (925 million on the week). Today remains in third with 744 million TV ad impressions, followed by The Young and the Restless (636 million) and Major League Baseball games (595 million) to close out the top five.

Sports-related programming also takes up the next two spots, with the Stanley Cup Finals at No. 6, and 2021 Wimbledon Championships at No. 7. Airing all of the highlights from the aforementioned events, SportsCenter is No. 11 on the week, with 451 million TV ad impressions. PGA Tour Golf is No. 16.

News also remains a fixture among the top 25 shows by TV ad impressions. About half of the shows in this ranking are news-related, including four of the top 10. Reality TV is also a factor, representing three of the top 25 shows: America’s Got Talent (No. 13), Love Island (No. 22) and Big Brother (No. 23).

ABC and NBC switch places yet again, with ABC leaping over NBC for the No. 1 spot in this week’s ad-impressions-by-network ranking. ABC benefits from the NBA Finals while taking a sizable (6.4 billion to 4.1 billion) lead. NBC still earns second place on the week with the Summer Olympics right around the corner.

After the top two spots, CBS lands at No. 3 with 3.9 billion TV ad impressions, followed by Fox News at No. 4 with 3.8 billion, then CNN at No. 5 with 2.3 billion. Thanks in part to baseball, Fox climbs from No. 13 to No. 13 while increasing impressions by 9% week-over-week. HGTV is up three spots from No. 15 to No. 12, and Discovery rides the start of Shark Week from No. 16 to No. 13.

Food Network closes out the weekly ranking at No. 25 after not appearing in the previous week’s list.

Below is our snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of June 28-July 4, shining a spotlight on the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio's Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Heated Eastern and Western Conference Finals series mean that the NBA Playoffs once again lead by minutes watched on TV. During the week of June 28-July 4, the NBA stayed in first place with 1.86% of watch-time. While that’s down from 2.1% of minutes watched the week prior, the week also features fewer total games by comparison.

Audiences are also hooked on watching other sporting events on TV, too. The 2021 Wimbledon Championships are third this week with 0.93% of minutes watched, followed closely by MLB games at 0.89%. Knockout round matchups have the 2020 European Championships (soccer) remaining in sixth with 0.82% of watch-time. The 2021 Stanley Cup Final notably rounds out the top 25 shows, with 0.42% of minutes watched as the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning battle it out.

Summer also appears to involve tuning in to syndicated fare for a lot of viewers. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit reruns make up 1.00% of minutes watched on TV, while Chicago P.D. is No. 8 with 0.75% and Chicago Fire is No. 10 with 0.60%. Friends is No. 9 at 0.66% of watch-time, and MTV air-time juggernaut Ridiculousness jumps from No. 16 to No. 12 on the week, with 0.58% of minutes watched.

Also Read: ESPN Finishes NBA Playoffs Coverage on High Note

The aforementioned Chicago Fire is one of the weeks’ top newcomers to not appear in the top 50, along with Wimbledon matches and Paramount Network’s Yellowstone. HGTV’s Home Town also moves up, from No. 35 to No. 16, while NCIS migrates from No. 32 to No. 18.

NBC claims a third consecutive week leading the watch-time ranking, at 5.86% of minutes watched. ABC isn’t too far behind at 5.75%, followed by CBS (5.47%) and Fox News Channel (4.13%). Week-over-week, the top six networks stay exactly the same, in order, with ESPN (3.60% of watch-time) and Fox (3.49%) occupying the fifth and sixth positions, respectively. Immediately below that group, TNT and HGTV swap places, with the former moving up to seventh and HGTV settling in at eighth.

With kids home from school, Nickelodeon climbs from 16th to 14th, at 1.52% of minutes watched. Discovery Channel is No. 25 with 1.09% of watch-time.

Top Shows and Networks By TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

The NBA’s conference finals concluded by delivering the most TV ad impressions once again. NBA Playoff games had over 1.84 billion TV ad impressions from June 28-July 4, which is nearly two times the total for the No. 2 show: Good Morning America (988 million on the week). Today sits in third with 786 million TV ad impressions, followed by The Young and the Restless (722 million) and Major League Baseball games (668 million) to round out the top five.

PGA Tour golf moves up a spot to 10th this week, while Wimbledon and the Stanley Cup Final are newcomers among the top 15 shows by TV ad impressions. The conclusion of the College World Series winds up at 18th, hitting it out of the park despite losing a game or two due to COVID protocols.

Reality TV typically isn’t a fixture among the top shows by impressions, but America’s Got Talent is 15th with 398 million and The Bachelorette now sits at No. 25 with 329 million.

NBC and ABC flip-flop once again, as the former is No. 1 in this week’s ad-impressions-by-network ranking. NBC arrives at the top spot by way of news and the aforementioned America’s Got Talent. ABC similarly banks on news, along with The Bachelorette, before becoming the home of the NBA Finals for the coming week. 

Following the top two spots, CBS is No. 3 with 4.2 billion TV ad impressions, then Fox News is No. 4 with 3.9 billion, while CNN is fifth at 2.3 billion. TNT and ESPN2 both tack on more impressions week-over-week by way of major sports programming. CNN’s total also climbs by about 10% compared to the prior week.

Spanish language sports channel TUDN and The Weather Channel are both week-over-week newcomers to the ranking, appearing in 24th and 25th place, respectively. UniMás shifts up two spots from No. 24 to No. 22. And Golf Channel leaps from No. 20 to No. 16. 

The list of major live TV sports programming airing during the extended July 4 holiday weekend revs up on Saturday with CBS's primetime airing of the new Superstar Racing Experience series, which offers short, sprint races featuring a wide range of drivers and courses, according to the network. This week's race will take place from Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. 

Also from the racetrack on Saturday, NBC will televise the Henry 180 NASCAR Xfinity Series race. On Sunday, NBC will air the Honda Indy 200 NTT IndyCar Series race as well as the Jockey Made in America 250 NASCAR race.

In other sports, TNT will conclude its 2021 NBA Playoffs coverage this weekend with Saturday’s Eastern Conference Finals game six between the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks. If Atlanta wins, TNT will air the seventh and final game of the series Monday night. 

Also Read: ESPN Finishes NBA Playoffs Coverage on High Note

Tonight NBC and streaming service Peacock will air game three of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens. The defending champion Lightning hold a 2-0 advantage over the Canadiens going into tonight's game. Game Four of the series airs Monday on NBC and Peacock. 

From the soccer field, ESPN and ABC will offer quarterfinal coverage of the UEFA Euro 2000 soccer tournament on Friday and Saturday. Today ESPN provides coverage of the Spain-Switzerland and Belgium-Italy games, while televising the Czech Republic-Denmark game on Saturday. Also on Saturday, ABC will televise the Ukraine-England contest. 

Copa America quarterfinal games will air Friday on FS1 (Peru-Paraguay and Brazil-Chile) and Saturday on FS2 (Uruguay-Columbia) and FS1 (Argentina-Ecuador).

Also Read: Peacock to Stream Remaining Stanley Cup Final Games

ESPN and ESPN2 will offer third round coverage of the Wimbledon tennis tournament throughout Friday, Saturday and Monday. 

CBS and Golf Channel will tee off with weekend coverage of the PGA Rocket Mortgage Classic Tournament, while NBC continues its Breeders’ Cup: Challenge Series horse racing coverage with live race telecasts on Saturday and Sunday. NBCSN will provide continuing weekend coverage of the Tour de France cycling event. 

TBS on Sunday will feature afternoon baseball with the San Diego Padres-Philadelphia Phillies telecast while ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball coverage will feature the Subway Series matchup between the New York Mets and the New York Yankees. 

In the ring, Showtime will feature a live fight card headlined by the Chris Colbert-Tugstsogt Nyambayar super featherweight championship fight. 

Also Read: Showtime to Replay Davis-Barrios PPV Fight as Part of July 3 Boxing Telecast

ESPN’s June 30 telecast of the Phoenix Suns’  closeout win against the L.A. Clippers in the Western Conference Finals series drew 5.8 million viewers, according to the sports network's analysis of Nielsen data.

The game, won by the Suns to advance to the NBA Finals, was up 64 percent from ESPN’s Conference Finals Game six last year between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat that was played in the pandemic-induced bubble in Florida, according to Nielsen.

Read also: Weekly Cable Ratings: TNT, ESPN Tie for Primetime Ratings Honors

Overall, ESPN and ABC’s coverage of the NBA Western Conference Finals generated an average viewership of 5.3 million viewers across six games, up 33 percent from ESPN’s six-game NBA Eastern Conference Finals coverage last year.

For the playoffs, ESPN and ABC averaged 3.9 million viewers across 33 games -- including the NBA Play-In Tournament -- up 34 percent year over year, according to Nielsen. 

ABC will air the NBA Finals beginning next week. 

The NBA playoffs continue to deliver big ratings dividends for TNT and ESPN as both networks tied for first place on the weekly primetime charts, said Nielsen.

TNT and ESPN averaged 2.2 million viewers for the week of June 21 to June 27 on the strength of both network’s coverage of NBA Conference finals playoff games. Fox News finished third with 2.1 million viewers, followed by MSNBC and HGTV, said Nielsen.

Read also: Live Sports Programming Sizzling on the Summer Ratings Front 

NBC Sports Network’s NHL post-season game telecasts propelled the sports network to sixth place with 907,000 viewers, followed by TBS (898,000 viewers), Discovery Channel (885,000), USA Network (881,000) and CNN (857,000).

Fox News topped the total day ratings chart for the 19th straight week with 1.2 million viewers, followed by ESPN (823,000), MSNBC (799,000), CNN (654,000) and HGTV (628,000), said Nielsen. 

Below is our snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of June 21-27, shining a spotlight on the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

There are just four teams left in the NBA Playoffs, but having fewer games hasn’t eliminated the NBA’s lead by minutes watched on TV. During the week of June 21-27, the NBA retained first place with 2.1% of minutes watched — though that is down from 3.54% the previous week. Meanwhile, audiences are starting to catch Olympic fever, with U.S. Olympic Trials taking second place for the week, with 0.95% of watch-time.

Once again, sports are a fixture in the top 10 of the rankings. Beyond the NBA and Olympic Trials, MLB games are third with 0.94% of watch-time. The 2020 UEFA European Championship is No. 6 with 0.84%, while the College World Series is No. 7 with 0.82% of minutes watched. SportsCenter sits at ninth, with 0.74%.

A week after the U.S. Open, the PGA Tour Golf is still going strong at No. 15, while SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt and Below Deck Mediterranean are newcomers among the top 25. The College World Series also jumps 23 spots from the previous week. Two and a Half Men (syndicated reruns) closes out the top 25 this week, with 0.40% of minutes watched.

Also Read: NBCU Plans Record 7,000 Hours of Olympic Programming

NBC stays atop the watch-time rankings for the second consecutive week, with 5.95% of minutes watched — just barely edging out ABC, which had 5.94%. The top four all stay the same week-over-week, with ABC followed by CBS (5.67% of watch-time) and Fox News (4.07%). ESPN is up two spots to No. 5, with 3.86% of watch-time. 

NBC Sports Network is the biggest mover, up five spots on the strength of the Olympic Trials and Stanley Cup Playoff action, to sit in 25th overall. History Channel also moves up three spots from No. 25 to No. 22, with 1.25% of minutes watched.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Early conference finals games in the NBA Playoffs delivered plenty of TV ad impressions, keeping the league on top of these rankings once again. There were over 2.1 million TV ad impressions during the NBA Playoffs from June 21-27 — 2.4 times the total for No. 2 show Good Morning America. U.S. Olympic Trials had the third-most TV ad impressions (786 million), followed by The Price Is Right (759 million) and SportsCenter (744 million) to round out the top five for the week.

Though it doesn’t crack the top 10, the College World Series still climbs all the way to 12th (from 59th the previous week) while more than tripling TV ad impressions week-over-week.

And while live sports take up plenty of real estate near the top of the charts, soap operas are also all over the rankings. The Young and the Restless are among the top 10 shows by TV ad impressions, and General Hospital, Days of Our Lives and The Bold and the Beautiful all make the list as well.

After a week out of the top spot, ABC overtakes NBC once again for No. 1 in these ad-impressions-by-network rankings for the week. ABC’s top programs are largely news (morning shows and evening), along with The Bachelorette. Beyond ABC (5.1 billion TV ad impressions), CBS is second with 4.8 billion. NBC (4.8 billion), Fox News (4.3 billion) and ESPN (2.8 billion) rank third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the timeframe.

NBC Sports Network continues its week-over-week climb, from 15th to 12th and now 11th, as a result of the NHL and Olympic Trials. ESPN2 also rises due in part to College World Series games airing on the network. The CW climbs four spots on the week, and Food Network is up two. CNBC is No. 25 in the rankings for the second straight week.

The final TV sports weekend of June kicks off with Saturday and Sunday coverage of the UEFA Euro 2020 soccer tournament. Round 16 tournament games include Saturday’s Wales-Denmark game on ESPN and the Italy-Austria contest on ABC. On Sunday, ESPN will televise the Netherlands-Czech Republic game, while ABC carries the Belgium-Portugal match. 

Fox on Sunday will air a Copa America soccer tournament Group Stage matchup between Ecuador and Brazil.

Showtime will distribute a Saturday pay-per-view boxing card featuring the Gervonta Davis-Mario Barrios super lightweight championship match. 

Read also: PPV Boxing's Summer Bonanza 

The NBA Playoffs continue Saturday with game four of the Western Conference finals series between the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Clippers on ESPN. TNT will continue its coverage of the Eastern Conference finals Sunday with game three of the Milwaukee Bucks-Atlanta Hawks series.

On the baseball diamond, Fox on Saturday will televise the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game, while FS1 will air the Kansas City Royals-Texas Rangers afternoon matchup.  ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will feature the Chicago Cubs-Los Angeles Dodgers game.

NBC’s Olympics trials coverage will feature Saturday afternoon men’s gymnastics coverage and primetime track and field coverage on both Saturday and Sunday.

The NBA Playoffs have helped both TNT and ESPN climb the primetime ratings charts as the league enters its semifinal playoff round. 

TNT averaged 3.6 million primetime viewers for the week of June 14 to June 20, topping all cable networks for the fourth straight week, according to Nielsen. TNT was paced by two game 7 weekend playoff games: its June 19 Milwaukee Bucks-Brooklyn Nets overtime thriller averaged a 2021 playoffs high 6.9 million viewers, while its June 20 Atlanta Hawks-Philadelphia 76’ers contest drew 6.1 million viewers -- the top two most watched shows on cable for the week. 

Read Also: NBA Playoff Game 7s Burst Post-'Bubble' Ratings Drought 

NBA playoffs-infused ESPN finished third for the week with 1.7 million viewers, behind  TNT as well as Fox News, which averaged 2.1 million viewers for the week, according to Nielsen.

MSNBC finished fourth with 1.2 million viewers, followed by USA Network’s 973,000 viewers. 

Discovery Channel (841,000 viewers), TLC (838,000), Hallmark Channel (785,000), and CNN (782,000) rounded out the top 10 most watched networks in primetime for the week. 

TNT and ESPN finished second and third respectively, on the total day charts, trailing only Fox News, which led all networks in the category for the 18th consecutive week with 1.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen. 

Below is our snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of June 14-20, shining a spotlight on the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Conference semifinal action kept the NBA Playoffs in first place for watch-time during the week of June 14-20, with 3.54% of minutes watched (up from 3.34% the previous week due to some pivotal game sevens). Golf was right on the NBA’s heels for the week, with the U.S. Open Championship collecting 3.15% of watch-time.

Various other sporting events were all over the top of the rankings. The 2020 UEFA European Championship was No. 3 — up from No. 20 — with 1.18% of watch time, while U.S. Olympic Trials was in fourth with 1.10%. Major League Baseball games collected 0.78% of minutes watched, which was good for eighth overall in the rankings.

The U.S. Open and Olympic Trials were completely new to this week’s rankings after not appearing on TV from June 7-13. Meanwhile, Euro 2020 matches had the largest jump (17 spots) of returning programming. Two and a Half Men (syndicated reruns) also managed to leap 10 spots, from 24th up to 14th on the week. Inside the NBA closed out the top 25 for the week, with 0.42% of watch-time.

Thanks in large part to a well-watched U.S. Open, NBC became the new No. 1 network by watch-time with 7.08% of minutes watched (up from 6.56% last week). ABC moved down just one spot to second in the rankings, with 5.95% of watch-time. The network airs some of the NBA Playoff games, plus other popular programs like Good Morning America, select Euro 2020 matches, and The Bachelorette.

CBS (5.12% of watch-time), Fox News (3.91%) and TNT (3.73%) followed ABC in this week’s rankings. TNT leapt two spots from seventh the previous week, with at least some credit due to the NBA Playoffs. 

Though there was minimal movement throughout the top 25 on the week, Golf Channel (again, a hat tip to the U.S. Open) did move into the 25th spot after not appearing in the top 50 the previous week. The network earned 1.06% of minutes watched in the timeframe.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Hotly contested series in both the Eastern and Western Conferences kept the NBA Playoffs at the top of these rankings as well. From June 14-20, NBA Playoff games delivered over 3.5 billion TV ad impressions. The U.S. Open managed about two-thirds the number of impressions (2.3 billion) on two-thirds the airings (1,056 vs. 1,527 for the NBA) to come in second. Good Morning America was third by TV ad impressions (903 million), followed by the U.S. Olympic Trials (832 million) and Today (749 million).

The U.S. Open and the U.S. Olympic Trials were both new to the rankings after not appearing on TV the previous week. General Hospital made moves from 21st to 17th week-over-week, while Euro 2020 matches more than doubled TV ad impressions from June 7-13 to June 14-20.

It was close, but NBC did squeeze past ABC to take the top spot in these ad-impressions-by-network rankings for the week. With an assist from the U.S. Open, NBC served up 5.6 billion TV ad impressions for the week, vs. 5.5 billion for ABC. CBS, Fox News and TNT ranked third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the timeframe.

The U.S. Olympic Trials helped NBC Sports climb from 15th to 12th on the week, while the Golf Channel moved from 20th up to 14th. CNBC closed out the rankings in 25th place for the week — a two-spot shift after finishing 23rd from June 7-13.

Two Game 7 Eastern Conference Semifinal playoff games over the weekend produced the NBA’s biggest TV numbers since the pre-pandemic 2019 postseason. 

As the league noted Tuesday, TNT’s coverage of the Milwaukee Bucks’ 115-111 win over the underachieving Brooklyn Nets was watched 6.9 million viewers, while the Atlanta Hawks’ 103-96 upset of the (also disappointing) Philadelphia 76ers was seen by 6.2 million watchers. 

Both contests represented the most watched NBA Playoff games this year and continued a marked ratings rebound for the league’s post-season following an audience cratering for the delayed “Bubble” NBA playoffs last fall that saw the Los Angeles Lakers six-game NBA Finals win over the Miami Heat average only 7.45 million viewers, according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data. 

This was for the Finals. Last year’s Bubble semifinals averaged only 3.04 million viewers across platforms, down 37% from 2019. 

Measuring viewership across TNT, ABC and ESPN for the 12 first-round and semifinal playoff series across the NBA’s Western and Eastern conferences, total viewership is up 39% vs. 2020, the league said Tuesday. 

Notably, NBA League Pass viewership is up 22% over “The Bubble.”

Is the league all the way back, audience-wise? With the erosion of linear TV and some of the audience migrating to League Pass, apples-to-apples comparisons with 2019 are hard to come by. 

But here’s the benchmark to meet: The Toronto Rapter’s six-game win over the injury riddled Golden State Warriors in the 2019 Finals averaged 15.1 million viewers on ABC. 

Will a Finals featuring the mid-market Bucks vs. the Phoenix Suns beat that number? That’s the matchup currently favored by odds makers as both Conference Finals rounds heat up.

We’d definitely take the “under” on that one. 

TV sports events for Father’s Day Weekend tee off with NBC and Golf Channel’s coverage of the U.S. Open on Saturday and Sunday. Bryson DeChambeau is still hoping to repeat as champion at the Open, which is is the third of four major PGA championships. Last year’s U.S. Open was postponed until September due to the pandemic. 

The NBA Playoffs conclude its second round this weekend with Saturday night’s Game 7 Milwaukee Bucks-Brooklyn Nets Eastern Conference series game live on TNT. If necessary Game 7 of the Atlanta Hawks-Philadelphia 76’ers and L.A. Clippers-Utah Jazz series will take place on Sunday night.

Also Read: Weekly Cable Ratings: TNT Scores Third Straight Primetime Win 

USA Network Saturday will air Game 4 of the Tampa Bay Lightning-N.Y. Islanders NHL Conference Final series, while NBCSN will air Game 3 of the Vegas Golden Knights-Montreal Canadiens Conference Finals.

ESPN Saturday will televise games one and two of the College World Series, with ESPN2 carrying games three and four on Sunday. On the MLB front, Fox Saturday in primetime will televise the Chicago White Sox-Houston Astros game, while ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast features the St. Louis Cardinals at the Atlanta Braves. 

Showtime and ESPN will step into the boxing ring with competing Saturday night fight cards. Showtime will feature the Jermall Charlo-Juan Macias Montiel middleweight championship fight, while ESPN will televise the Naoya Inoue-Michael Dasmarinas bantamweight title match. On PPV, Boxing Hall of Fame fighter Julio Cesar Chavez will step into the ring after a more than 15-year layoff to fight an exhibition match against Hector Camacho Jr. 

Also Read: Boxing Legend Julio Cesar Chavez to Fight in PPV Exhibition Bout

Here’s our quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of June 7-13, showcasing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

While the NBA Playoffs remain in first place for watch-time with 3.34% of minutes watched during the week of June 7-13 (down just slightly from 3.36% the previous week), a newcomer slid into second as college baseball owned 1.06% of watch-time. The Division I NCAA baseball tournament has been airing across various ESPN networks both during the day and at night as the field narrows in advance of the College World Series.

Despite the season finale airing a week ago, Law & Order Special Victims Unit dropped just one spot to No. 3, with 0.89% of minutes watched. Good Morning America (0.87% of watch-time) and Major League Baseball (0.75%) rounded out the top five. The 2021 French Open (ninth overall) was the only other sports-related show in the top 10.

Beyond college baseball and the UEFA European Championship, some of the week’s biggest movers included Chicago P.D. — up from 14th to seventh — and NCIS: New Orleans, up from 12th to sixth. Fox and Friends remained in 25th to close out the rankings just as it did the previous week.

ABC retained its standing as the No. 1 network by watch-time with 6.56% of minutes watched (an improvement over last week’s 6.34%). Though Good Morning America and the NBA Playoffs were big parts of that, the season premiere of The Bachelorette certainly helped as well.

NBC (5.75% of watch-time), CBS (5.56%) and Fox News (3.86%) followed ABC in the same order as the previous week, with Fox in fifth at 3.72% of minutes watched. (Fox finished sixth the previous week.)

USA Network moved up from No. 13 to No. 17 on the week, and TBS rose from 18th to 15th. Once again, Lifetime closed out the top 25 — this time with 1.07% of minutes watched, which was a slight uptick from last week’s 1.02%.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Conference semifinal matchups kept the NBA Playoffs on top of these rankings as well. From June 7-13, the NBA Playoffs delivered more than 3.4 billion TV ad impressions — over four times more than the second-place finisher, Good Morning America (819 million). Today (716 million TV ad impressions), The Price is Right (705 million) and The Young and the Restless (651 million) rounded out the top five for the week by impressions delivered.

After not appearing the previous week, college baseball leapt to seventh overall. Looking at top 10 programming by TV ad impressions, five were sports-related. That programming — the NBA Playoffs, Major League Baseball, college baseball, the NHL Playoffs and the 2021 French Open — accounted for nearly 13% of all TV ad impressions for new airings from June 7-13.

ABC kept itself on top of the ad-impressions-by-network rankings for the week, on the strength of GMA, the NBA and The Bachelorette season premiere. On the week, the network served up nearly 5.8 billion TV ad impressions — 19% more than CBS, which ranked second in the timeframe.

NBC, Fox News and ESPN completed the top five for the week, with ESPN’s impressions jumping by almost 39% due in part to college baseball. MLB Network continued to climb, moving from 13th to 15th. And Hallmark closed out this week’s ranking, moving up one spot from 26th last week.

Here’s our quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of May 31-June 6, showcasing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio’s TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Once again, the NBA Playoffs reigned supreme on TVs, with games remaining in first place for watch-time with a 3.36% share of minutes watched (down from 4.33% last week as the postseason field narrowed). Sports programming generally dominated, grabbing six of the top 11 spots for the week of May 31-June 6. 

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit jumped to No. 2 (0.95% of watch-time) on the strength of its season finale airing on CBS. It was followed by the 2021 Women’s College World Series (0.87% of minutes watched), Good Morning America (0.82%) and NHL hockey (0.78%).

The Women’s College World Series and the 2021 French Open were the biggest movers just by way of not being on TV the prior week. But week-over-week, SportsCenter jumped from 17th to ninth; Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives moved from 25th to 19th; and Love It or List It leapt all the way from 49th to 21st.

ABC nabbed the No. 1 spot in the network rankings (from second last week), with 6.34% of watch-time. Along with Good Morning America and the NBA Playoffs, the network also benefited from the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy airing last week.

NBC shifted down one place to second with 5.89% of minutes watched, followed by CBS, which stayed in third with 5.58%. Hallmark Channel moved up from No. 17 to No. 12 on the week, and TLC nudged up slightly into the top 20 (from 21st to 19th). The top 25 once again concluded with Lifetime, which had 1.02% of watch-time on the week.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

The NBA Playoffs continued, and so did the league’s place at the top of these rankings. From May 31-June 6, the NBA Playoffs delivered over 3.4 billion TV ad impressions. Good Morning America stayed in second, with 852 million TV ad impressions, followed by The Price Is Right (775 million), Today (770 million) and the NHL (721 million).

Both the 2021 French Open and 2021 Women’s College World Series were new arrivals in the top 25, given the fact that, as noted earlier, neither occurred the week prior. Same goes for America’s Got Talent, which entered the ranking following its June 1 season premiere on NBC.

ABC moved to the top of the ad-impressions-by-network rankings on the week, thanks to the aforementioned boosts from GMA, the NBA and the Grey’s Anatomy finale. The network served up over 5.8 billion TV ad impressions from May 31-June 6. That’s 16% more than CBS (the previous No. 1) had for the timeframe.

NBC, Fox News and TNT rounded out the top five on the week, while Telemundo was the lone new entrant in the top 10. TLC also continued its climb, moving from 17th to 12th. Some shuffling around at the bottom of the chart meant CNBC closed things out at 25 (it was 20th the week before).

TNT’s National Basketball Association playoffs coverage helped propel the network to the top of the weekly cable primetime ratings charts last week, according to Nielsen.

TNT averaged 3.2 million viewers during the week of May 6 to May 12, topping Fox News’ 2.3 million primetime viewers, said Nielsen. ESPN, which also featured NBA Playoffs coverage, finished third with 1.8 million viewers, followed by MSNBC (1.7 million viewers) and HGTV (1.1 million.)

NBC Sports Network skated to a sixth place tie with USA Network on the strength of its NHL postseason coverage. A&E Network, History and Hallmark Channel rounded out the top 10 most watched networks in primetime last week, said Nielsen.

Fox News remained hot on a total day basis, averaging 1.3 million viewers to finish first ahead of YNT, its 18th consecutive weekly win. MSNBC, ESPN and HGTV finished well behind Fox News for the week, according to Nielsen. 

TNT has secured its second straight weekly primetime ratings win, thanks to its coverage of the second round of the NBA Playoffs, according to Nielsen.

TNT averaged 3.1 million viewers to take the top spot during the week of April 30 to May 6, according to Nielsen. Fox News was second with 2.3 million viewers, followed by MSNBC with 1.7 million viewers.

NBC Sports Network’s NHL playoffs coverage and ESPN’s NBA post-season telecasts helped both networks tie for fourth place with 1.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

HGTV, USA Network and TBS (all tied with 1.2 million viewers), History (978,000) and Investigation Discovery (930,000) rounded out the top 10 most watched networks in primetime.

Fox News was the top choice for viewers on a 24-hour basis for the 17 consecutive week, besting TNT, MSNBC, Nickelodeon and HGTV, said network officials. 

The first rounds of the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League postseason have delivered strong ratings performances for cable networks.

The opening round of the NBA Playoffs, which began April 14 and ended April 29, averaged 3.3 million viewers across five networks — ABC, TNT, ESPN, NBA TV and ESPN2. That’s a 3% increase compared to the same period in 2017, one of the league’s most-watched postseasons in several years.

Further, the league said it generated more than 1.3 billion video views during the first round of the playoffs across its social media accounts, up 58% from last year’s first round.

The NBA’s postseason performance is an extension of the league’s most-watched regular season since 2013-14. The appeal of established teams like the defending champion Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as resurgent campaigns from the likes of the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics, have helped drive postseason ratings, network executives said.

“It’s reflective of the great storylines the NBA presents during the post season as well as the superstars who up their games when the bright lights are on, and that benefits all of us,” Scooter Vertino, senior vice president of production and programming for Turner Sports and content, programming and production for NBA Digital, said.

Individually, TNT’s 23 live game telecasts drew an average of 3.6 million viewers, up 5% compared to the same period in 2017 and the network’s most-watched first round coverage since 2014.

Game 4 of the Cavaliers-Indiana Pacers series on TNT April 22 was cable’s most-watched first-round NBA Playoffs contest since 2012.

“This is one of those perfect storms where we would ride that momentum as far as it will take us,” Vertino said. “We expect the audience will continue to grow as the stakes get higher as the rounds progress.”

On the ice, NBC Sports Group is enjoying the best start to its NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs coverage in six years. Through the first three weeks of the playoffs, which began April 11, combined coverage on NBCSN, CNBC, Golf Channel, USA Network and broadcast network NBC — as well as NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app — averaged 891,000 viewers in total audience delivery, which network officials said was the best performance since 2014. On the digital side, NBC Sports said its live streaming coverage of 51 playoff games has already set records for total live minutes (245 million) and unique users (1.7 million).

NBC Sports executive producer and president of production Sam Flood said the programmer’s coverage of the NHL playoffs is thriving despite the playoff absence of four of the popular “Original Six” franchises: the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers.

“It’s been a great start to the playoffs,” he said. “The on-ice action has been as compelling as you can ask for, and it’s gotten people to pay attention at a higher level than in the past few years, so it’s very exciting.”

Pictured: The resurgence of franchises like the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics is boosting ratings for the NBA Playoffs.

The start of the NBA post-season helped TNT secure its first weekly primetime ratings win of the year.

TNT averaged 2.9 million viewers to top all cable networks during the week of April 16-22, according to Nielsen. Fox News Channel was second with 2.4 million, followed by MSNBC (1.9 million), and ESPN and HGTV (tied with 1.3 million).

USA Network and TBS (tied with 1.1 million), Investigation Discovery and History (tied with 1 million viewers), and CNN (947,000) rounded out the top 10 most watched networks in primetime for the week.

Fox News was the mot watched cable network on a total day basis, averaging 1.4 million viewers, followed by TNT (1.1 million), MSNBC (1 million), Nickelodeon (872,000) and HGTV (775,000), said Nielsen. 

Fox News Channel last week returned to top of the weekly primetime ratings among cable networks, according to Nielsen.

Fox News averaged 2.3 million viewers to finish first during the week of May 22 to May 28, unseating NBA playoffs-infused TNT, which finished second with 2 million viewers, Nielsen said. 

MSNBC finished third with 1.6 million viewers, followed by USA Network and HGTV, both tied with 1.3 million viewers.

TBS and ESPN tied for sixth with 1.2 million viewers each, followed by CNN and History (tied with 1 million viewers), and NBCSN (927,000 watchers.) 

Fox News was also the most watched cable network on a 24-hour basis for the 21st straight week, besting Nickelodeon, MSNBC, CNN and Adult Swim.

TNT was the most watched network among adults 18-49 in primetime as well as across female demos 18-49, 25-54 and 18-34, according to Nielsen.

Most Watched Cable Shows During The Week Of May 22-28

DateShowNetworkTotal Viewers

5/23   NBA Playoffs – Boston/Cleveland                         TNT                             7.0 million

5/25   NBA Playoffs – Cleveland/Boston                         ESPN                           5.8 million

5/22   NBA Playoffs – Golden State-San Antonio            ESPN                            5.7 million

5/22   Tucker Carlson Tonight                                      Fox News                      3.4 million

5/22   Hannity                                                            Fox News                      3.3 million

5/22   Shepard Smith Reporting                                   Fox News                      3.3 million

5/25   Rachel Maddow Show                                        MSNBC                         2.9 million

5/25   NHL Playoffs – Ottawa/Pittsburgh                       NBCSN                         2.9 million

5/24   Tucker Carlson Tonight                                      Fox News                     2.8 million

5/25   Tucker Carlson Tonight                                     Fox News                      2.8 million

Source: Nielsen