Primetime Ratings: ABC Rolls With NBA Finals
By Michael Malone published

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.
The smarter way to stay on top of broadcasting and cable industry. Sign up below.
Thank you for signing up to Broadcasting & Cable. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.