ABC rebounds in ratings
NBA Finals put an end to Fox's streak
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Three games between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers topped the week's ratings leaderboard in the adults 18-49 demo, with Sunday's Game 5 leading the way. As a result of the basketball boost, ABC was up substantially vs. the same frame a year ago, and the Big Four broadcasters as a group were up vs. last year for a second straight week.
ABC is hopeful that auds will check out some of the reality skeins it has been promoting during basketball, most notably "Wipeout," which bows next week, and "High School Musical: Get in the Picture," which arrives next month.
Looking at the week of June 9-15, Nielsen national estimates show that ABC won in adults 18-49 with a 2.5 rating/8 share, followed by Fox (2.2/7), NBC (2.0/7), CBS (1.6/5), Univision (1.4/4) and USA (1.0/3).
ABC also prevailed in other categories like adults 25-54 (2.7/8) and persons 12-34 (2.1/8) while CBS won as usual in total viewers (7.19 million).
The Alphabet won all three nights of the NBA Finals, with Sunday's victory by the Lakers (7.3 rating/21 share in adults 18-49, 17.39 million viewers overall) becoming the top-rated program on television since the "American Idol" finale on Fox in May.
Tuesday's Game 3 ranked second for the week (6.0/18, 14.51m), followed by Thursday's Game 4 (5.6/17, 13.76m), which likely lost some viewers along the way as the Lakers built a 24-point lead -- only to blow it and lose.
Through five telecasts, the 2008 NBA Finals were up by 62% in 18-49 (6.0/18 vs. 3.7/12) and by 57% in total viewers (14.6 million vs. 9.3 million) vs. last year's low-rated San Antonio-Cleveland series. This year reps the best average for the NBA Finals since 2004 (Lakers-Detroit).
Outside hoops action, ABC's lone top-20 representative for the week was Monday's "The Bachelorette" (2.2/7 in 18-49, 6.35m), which has been edging up in recent weeks.
Second-place Fox claimed the week's top two non-sports telecasts in 18-49 with "Hell's Kitchen" (4.2/12 in 18-49, 8.81m) and "So You Think You Can Dance" (3.4/11, 8.91m), but settled for the silver medal for the first time in 23 weeks.
Net's winning streak had dating back to early January, continued all season thanks to "American Idol" and extended into the first two weeks of summer courtesy of "Hell's Kitchen" and "So You Think You Can Dance."
NBC's weekly average was boosted by the concluding two hours of Sunday's U.S. Open golf coverage, which averaged a big 4.6/17 in 18-49 and 16.4 million viewers overall, making for the Peacock's strongest Sunday in four months.
Among original series, the net's Thursday tandem of "Last Comic Standing" (1.7/5, 4.05m) and "Fear Itself" (1.5/4, 4.87m) continue to put up modest numbers, while Wednesday's bow of "Celebrity Circus" did reasonably well (2.3/7, 6.52m).
CBS again lagged behind its rivals among young adults, with the net's biggest summer weapon, the thrice-weekly "Big Brother," not bowing until mid-July. Its top performers were Monday repeat comedies "Two and a Half Men" (3.3/9 in 18-49, 10.72m) and "Rules of Engagement" (2.9/8, 8.51m).
The Tony Awards on Sunday, meanwhile, settled for a 1.1/3 in 18-49 and 6.27 million viewers overall -- on par with the previous year's all-time low scores.
As for firstrun series, "Swingtown" (2.3/7, 9.42m) declined 19% from its solid week-earlier preem to place second to basketball on Thursday, while earlier on the night, a special "Million Dollar Password" won its hour (2.0/7, 9.36m).
USA led easily among the cable nets, sweeping the key categories of 18-49, 25-54 and total viewers -- and also edging past TBS for the lead among the 18-34 crowd.
Monday's "WWE Raw" led the way (1.9/6 in 18-49, 4.59m from 9-11 p.m.) and the net got nice contributions from firstrun Sunday dramas "In Plain Sight" (1.3/4, 4.07m) and "Law & Order: CI" (1.1/3, 3.36m).
Bravo's "Top Chef" was the week's No. 1 cable telecast in 18-49 (1.9/6, 3.51m), with the fourth season wrapping as the show's highest-rated to date. And Lifetime's "Army Wives" was the frame's No. 1 scripted cable program in demos (1.8/5, 4.20m).
Nickelodeon could be pleased with the 4.46 million that tuned in Friday for an expanded, hourlong episode of "iCarly," making it cable's most-watched non-sports telecast of the week. It averaged 2.3 million kids 2-11 and about 1.9 million in both the kids 6-11 and tweens 9-14 categories.
