ABC cruised to a ratings win Wednesday with a 4.2 in adults 18-49, according to Nielsen’s overnights, with a whopping 15 share thanks to Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Jimmy Kimmel Live! and KIA NBA Countdown both did 2.3s before the game. Game 3, which saw the Cavaliers put up a convincing win over the Warriors, averaged a 5.2 in the 18-49 demo, while its overnight rating stood at 11.8.
Game 2 had done a 5.1 in 18-49.
The NBA Finals is the second-highest rated ever on ABC through three games, averaging a 12.2 overnight rating.
NBC posted a 1.3/5, with American Ninja Warrior at 1.6, down a tenth of a point from a week ago, and The Night Shift down 18% to 0.9. Neither was up against the NBA Finals a week before.
Fox had a 1.0/4, as MasterChef grew 9% to 1.2, and Wayward Pines slipped 22% to 0.7.
CBS did a 0.6/2 with repeats while The CW’s own repeats scored a 0.2/1.
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.
