As expected, the first game of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder dominated the Tuesday night ratings race and lifted ABC to an easy victory.
In the 9-11 p.m. timeslot, which was the game for much of the country, the two hours drew a 5.6 rating/15 share in the 18-49 demo, with 13.1 million viewers overall. In other parts of the country during that time, ABC aired post-game coverage and other programming as soon as the Thunder’s win was complete.
The overnight rating was an 11.8, the highest ever for a Game 1 on ABC, according to Nielsen. The game peaked with a 14.1 rating from 11:30 to 11:45 p.m. ET. Updated and increased NBA viewer totals should be available Wednesday afternoon.
Previous to tip-off, the net’s “NBA Countdown” drew a 2.8/6, 6.9m at 8:30 and a basketball-themed “Jimmy Kimmel Live” special started the night with a 2.2/7, 9.3m.
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In nonsports programming, NBC’s summer reality skein “America’s Got Talent” was best overall. The Howard Stern-infused competition show earned a 3.0/8, 10.8m at 9 o’clock. Last week “Talent” aired at 8 o’clock while “Love in the Wild” had the 9 p.m. timeslot. In the later start, “Talent” saw some ratings erosion — from a 3.5 to 3.0, and a loss of about 1.7 million viewers.
The viewer drop-off on “Talent” was clearly because of competition from the NBA Finals game and a mediocre lead-in of “American Ninja Warrior” (1.6/5, 4.9m). “Love in the Wild” (1.6/4, 5m) shifted to 10 p.m., where it was on par from a week ago.
Fox was consistent in its culinary reality shows. Both “Hell’s Kitchen” and “MasterChef” each recorded a 2.1 rating in the demo, with “Hell’s Kitchen” earning a slighter higher share (7 vs. 6). Both were about even from last week.
CBS offered a trio of repeats: “NCIS” (1.3/4, 9.2m), “NCIS: Los Angeles” (1.1/3, 6.9) and “48 Hours Mystery” (1.6/4, 5m).
The CW’s programming included “The Catalina” (0.2/1, 649,000) and “The L.A. Complex (0.1/0, 391,000).
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: ABC, 4.6/13; NBC, 2.1/6; Fox, 2.1/6; CBS, 1.2/3; Univision, 1.1/3; CW, 0.2/1.
In total viewers: 11 million; CBS, 7.1 million; NBC, 6.9 million; Fox, 4.9 million; Univision, 2.9 million; CW, 733,000.
