TV Ratings: NBA Finals Game 2 crushes Tony Awards, Miss USA on Sunday

Fast National ratings for Sunday, June 8, 2014.

On a busy Sunday night of live programming, there was actually very little competition at all. ABC's coverage of the second game of the NBA Finals dominated primetime in all measures. The Tony Awards telecast put CBS in second place overall, while NBC's Miss USA coverage eked out a distant second among young viewers.

All of those numbers will be prone to adjustments when Final Live+Same Day figures trickle in. As of now, the Tony Awards were flat from last year in the key demo and down a hair overall. Miss USA was up very slightly from last year.

FOX had the night's other couple notables, as “Enlisted” ticked down a tiny bit in total viewers, while the finale for “Cosmos” was down in most measures.

On to the numbers…

Among adults 18-49, ABC averaged a 4.4 rating for Sunday night, tops in the key demographic. There was a huge drop to NBC's 1.2 key demo rating and the 1.1 key demo rating for CBS. FOX trailed with a 0.9 key demo rating for Sunday.

Overall, ABC averaged an estimated 10.99 million viewers and a 6.6 rating/11 share for Sunday primetime, far ahead of the 7.39 million viewers and 4.7/8 for CBS. NBC was third with 5.43 million viewers and a 3.4/6, still well in front of the 2.17 million viewers and 1.4/2 for FOX.

7 p.m. – CBS led the 7 p.m. hour overall with 8.48 million viewers for “60 Minutes,” which was second with a 1.0 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's NBA Finals pregame averaged 6.32 million viewers and an hour-winning 2.2 key demo rating, ahead of the 5.09 million viewers and 3.3/6 for NBC's “Dateline.” FOX trailed with a new “Enlisted” (1.005 million and a 0.4 key demo) and an “American Dad” repeat (1.28 million and a 0.6 key demo).

8 p.m. – The start of the game between the Spurs and Heat drew 10.52 million viewers and a 4.0 rating among adults 18-49 to lead the 8 p.m. hour for ABC. CBS' Tony Awards coverage was second with 7.6 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating, ahead of the 4.39 million viewers and 1.0 key demo rating for NBC's Miss USA coverage. FOX's repeats of “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” averaged 2.34 million viewers for fourth and a 1.1 key demo rating for third on the hour.

9 p.m. – The NBA Finals action rose to 13.06 million viewers and a 5.3 rating among adults 18-49 for ABC in the 9 p.m. hour. CBS' Tony Awards telecast dropped to 7.04 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating, compared to the rising 5.75 million viewers and 1.4 key demo rating for NBC's Miss USA coverage. FOX's “Cosmos” finale averaged 3.035 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating. 

10 p.m. – The Miami/San Antonio game kept rising and averaged 14.07 million viewers and a 5.9 rating among adults 18-49 in ABC's last primetime hour. NBC's Miss USA coverage moved up to 6.51 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating, topping the 6.43 million viewers and 1.2 key demo rating for the drooping Tony Awards on CBS.

All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change, particularly in the case of live events.

×