TV Ratings: NBA Finals Help ABC Dominate

The NBA Finals has gained some, but not all, of its audience back after last year’s trip to the pandemic bubble. The first three games of the championship match between the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks averaged just about 9 million viewers, the Associated Press reports citing Nielsen.

That’s up 41% from the 6.38 million who watched the first three games of last year’s series between the L.A. Lakers and Miami Heat. The 2000 series was held in the odd time of late September and October and played without live audiences due to COVID-19 restrictions.

This year’s series is close to normal in timing, and live audiences have returned. Compared to the pre-COVID 2019 series where Toronto beat Golden State, this year’s audience is down 34%, Nielsen said.

The Finals helped ABC dominate the prime time ratings, as the network averaged 4.6 million viewers for the week. NBC had 2.9 million, CBS had 2.7 million, Univision had 1.8 million, Fox had 1.7 million, Ion Television had 1.1 million and Telemundo had 1 million.

Top 20 Prime Time Shows (Total Audience):

1. NBA Finals, Game 2: Milwaukee at Phoenix, ABC, 9.38 million.

2. NBA Finals, Game 3: Phoenix at Milwaukee, ABC, 9.02 million.

3. NBA Finals, Game 1: Milwaukee at Phoenix, ABC, 8.56 million.

4. “America’s Got Talent,” NBC, 7.24 million.

5. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 6.57 million.

6. “NBA Post-Game Show” (Sunday), ABC, 4.94 million.

7. “Big Brother” (Wednesday), CBS, 4.25 million.

8. “The $100,000 Pyramid,” ABC, 3.99 million.

9. “NCIS,” CBS, 3.85 million.

10. “Press Your Luck,” ABC, 3.78 million.

11. “Big Brother” (Sunday), CBS, 3.76 million.

12. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 3.59 million.

13. “FBI,” CBS, 3.57 million.

14. “The Bachelorette,” ABC, 3.52 million.

15. NHL Stanley Cup Final, Game 5: Montreal at Tampa Bay, NBC, 3.51 million.

16. “FBI: Most Wanted,” CBS, 3.31 million

17. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Thursday), Fox News, 3.23 million.

18. “NBA Countdown” (Thursday), ABC, 3.22 million.

19. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Tuesday), Fox News, 3.15 million.

20. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 3.11 million.

Fox News Channel led the cable networks, averaging 2.02 million viewers in prime time. HGTV had 1.25 million, MSNBC had 1.23 million, Hallmark had 880,000 and History had 842,000.

➤Basic Cable TV (Total Viewers):

➤Basic Cable TV (Viewers 25-54):

In prime, Tucker Carlson Tonight was again the most-watched program in cable news, drawing a total audience of 3.2 million viewers and 526,000 viewers in the key demo. Fox’s Hannity won the 9 p.m. ET time slot, with a total audience of 2.7 million viewers and 384,000 viewers in the key demo.

In total day ratings, Fox News finished first on the week, with a total audience of 1.2 million viewers and 193,000 viewers in the key demo—and FNC dominated the competition by taking 9 of the top 10 most-watched shows on the week among viewers 25-54.