Fast National ratings for Thursday, June 4, 2015.
The first game of a marquee NBA Finals pitting the NBA's top two teams, led by two of the sport's biggest stars, lived up to its billing on Thursday with an overtime victory for the Golden State Warriors and a primetime victory for ABC.
Due to the live nature of the basketball, ABC's Fast National totals reflect only time period data and not ratings for the game, which is particularly notable in a game with one of the teams hailing from the West Coast. And with the game going into overtime, the climax was out of primetime for much of the country.
Per ABC, overnight ratings for the game itself were up 24 percent over last year.
With ABC drawing such big numbers, a lot of the air was taken out of the Thursday room, with NBC's “Aquarius” plummeting in Week 2 — NBC's interest in live ratings may be limited since the series is available to stream in its entirety — and “Hannibal” returning for a weak Season 3 launch.
Avoiding a big dip was FOX's “Wayward Pines,” which only slipped 0.1 in the key demo against basketball and improved in total viewers, beating “Aquarius” in both measures.
Let's get to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, ABC averaged a 4.8 rating among adults 18-49 for Thursday primetime, beating the combined competition in the key demographic. FOX was a distant second with a 1.1 key demo rating, followed by the 1.0 key demo rating for CBS. NBC was fourth with a 0.8 key demo rating, followed by The CW's 0.2 key demo rating for the night.
Overall, ABC averaged an estimated 12.5 million viewers and a 7.5 rating/14 share for Thursday night. CBS was a distant second with 5.6 million viewers and a 3.7/7. FOX's 2.9/5 and 4.66 million viewers and the 4.32 million viewers and 3.0/5 for NBC followed. The CW averaged 678,000 viewers and a 0.5/1 for the night.
8 p.m. – ABC's 8 p.m. hour averaged 8.76 million viewers and a 3.1 rating among adults 18-49, which includes a Jimmy Kimmel special, NBA pregame and the game for much of the country. CBS was second with repeats of “The Big Bang Theory” (7.41 million and a 1.4 key demo) and “The Odd Couple” (5.79 million and a 1.1 key demo). NBC's “Dateline” averaged 6.42 million viewers to top the 5.12 million viewers for FOX's “Bones,” with both networks averaging a 1.1 key demo rating. The CW's “iZombie” repeat averaged 757,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – ABC's basketball coverage for most of the country averaged 13.86 million viewers and a 5.3 rating among adults 18-49 to lead the 9 p.m. hour. CBS' repeats of “Mom” and “Mike & Molly” averaged 5.66 million viewers for second and a 1.0 key demo rating for third. FOX's “Wayward Pines” was third overall with 4.2 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating, topping the 3.92 million viewers and 0.7 key demo rating for NBC's “Aquarius.” The CW's “Vampire Diaries” repeat averaged 599,000 viewers and a 0.2 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – Golden State and Cleveland closed primetime with 14.88 million viewers and a 5.9 rating among adults 18-49 for ABC. CBS' repeat of “Elementary” averaged 4.55 million viewers for second and a 0.6 key demo rating for third. NBC's “Hannibal” premiere drew 2.62 million viewers and a 0.7 key demo rating. [Airing on Friday last season, “Hannibal” drew over 3.3 million viewers and did a 1.0 key demo rating for its February premiere.]
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.