ABC coasted to a massive ratings win Thursday, thanks to Game 1 of the NBA Finals, putting up a 4.8 rating in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 19 share. After Jimmy Kimmel’s pre-game show did a 2.5 and NBA Countdown a 2.7, the game, featuring the Golden State Warriors versus the Cleveland Cavaliers, did a 5.9. That was level with last year’s opener, as 15.7 million total viewers tuned in.
Among the competition, only Fox reached 1.0, that network tallying a 4 share. Beat Shazam fell 8% from its premiere at 1.1, while Love Connection was off 27% from its debut at 0.8.
CBS was at 0.8/3, with repeats leading into TheAmazing Race, which climbed 17% to 0.7.
Airing repeats, NBC had a 0.6/2.
The CW too was in repeats, with a couple Supernatural episodes in prime. It did a 0.2/1.
Among Spanish-language nets, Univision rated a 0.5/2 and Telemundo a 0.4/1.
Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.
