Fast National ratings for Tuesday, June 18, 2013.
A Game 6 thriller in the NBA Finals easily lifted ABC to a Tuesday win among young viewers, but NBC still eked out an overall win for the night with a boost from the season finale for “The Voice.”
With the exciting climax of the basketball game taking place outside of primetime on the East Coast and early in primetime on the left side of the country, you can expect plenty of shifting when the Final numbers come in, though ABC is suggesting this could be the fourth highest-rated NBA game in network history.
As for the finale of “The Voice,” NBC wanted to emphasize that it was the show’s most watched finale overall and that it outdrew May’s finale for “American Idol,” while FOX wanted to counter that among young viewers, “The Voice” was down by 12 percent from its fall/winter finale.
For the night, ABC averaged a 5.4 rating among adults 18-49, beating NBC’s 3.8 rating in the key demographic. There was a big gap to third place FOX’s 1.4 rating and to the 0.9 key demo rating for CBS, while The CW drew a 0.3 key demo rating.
Overall, though, NBC averaged an 8.6 rating/14 share and 14.01 million viewers, compared to the 8.2/13 and 13.7 million viewers for ABC for the night. CBS was third with 6.43 million viewers and a 4.3/7 for the night, well ahead of the 3.85 million viewers and a 2.4/4 for FOX. The CW averaged 652,000 viewers and a 0.4/1 for the night.
[Univision drew 3.68 million viewers and a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49 for Tuesday primetime.]
8 p.m. – “America’s Got Talent” led the 8 p.m. hour with 11.43 million viewers and finished second with a 2.9 rating among adults 18-49. ABC was second with 8.815 million viewers for NBA Finals pregame (and the game itself in part of the country), winning the hour with a 3.2 key demo rating. CBS was a close third with 8.01 million viewers for an “NCIS” repeat, which was fourth in the key demo with a 1.0 key demo rating. FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance” was down against boosted competition with 3.895 million viewers and a 1.5 key demo rating. On The CW, a “Hart of Dixie” repeat averaged 734,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – The start of the NBA Finals Game 6 averaged 15.3 million viewers and a 6.1 rating among adults 18-49 for ABC in the 9 p.m. hour. NBC’s “the Voice” finale was second with 14.89 million viewers and a 4.2 key demo rating. CBS’ “NCIS: Los Angeles” repeat was third with 6.09 million viewers and fourth with a 0.8 key demo rating. FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance” was third with a 1.4 key demo rating and fourth with 3.81 million viewers. The CW’s “America’s Next Top Model” repeat averaged 571,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – The Spurs and Heat action rose to 16.99 million viewers and a 7.0 rating among adults 18-49 in the 10 p.m. hour. NBC’s “The Voice” hit 15.71 million viewers and a 4.4 key demo rating in its closing hour. Shifting to what will be its new time period, a repeat of “Person of Interest” drew 5.2 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating.
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.