Fast National ratings for Thursday, June 11. 2015.
The fourth game of the NBA Finals was the tight series' first relative rout with the Golden State Warriors cruising past the Cleveland Cavaliers. Meanwhile, ABC's telecast of the game also cruised past the Thursday competition in all ratings measures.
Even with the basketball taking up the majority of the Thursday audience, a big episode of “Wayward Pines” and the third “Aquarius” episode both posted tiny key demo up-ticks for the night, while The CW's “Beauty and the Beast” had an OK season premiere.
On the negative side, NBC's “Hannibal” slipped from last week's already low premiere.
As always, remember that the NBA ratings reflect time period data and not the ratings for the basketball game itself, a particularly important distinction with one of the teams hailing from the West Coast.
Let's get to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, ABC averaged a 5.3 rating for Thursday night, easily tops in the key demographic. FOX was a distant second with a 1.2 key demo rating, followed by the 1.0 key demo rating for CBS. NBC's 0.8 key demo rating and the 0.3 key demo rating for The CW trailed for the night.
Overall, ABC averaged an estimated 14.03 million viewers and an 8.4 rating/15 share for Thursday primetime. CBS was well back in second with a 3.3/6 and 5.055 million viewers, followed by FOX's 4.56 million viewers and 2.8/5 and the 2.7/5 and 3.945 million viewers for NBC. The CW averaged 889,000 viewers and a 0.6/1 for the night.
8 p.m. – ABC's 8 p.m. coverage, including a “Jimmy Kimmel Live” special and pregame in most markets and basketball on the left side of the country, averaged 9.43 million viewers and a 3.3 rating among adults 18-49. NBC's “Dateline” was second with 6.37 million viewers and third with a 1.2 key demo rating. CBS was third overall and second in the key demo with repeats of “The Big Bang Theory” (6.96 million and a 1.4 key demo) and “The Odd Couple” (5.4 million and a 1.1 key demo). FOX's “Bones” season finale averaged 4.88 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating in fourth. The CW's “Beauty and the Beast” season premiere averaged 908,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating, in line with last season's premiere and, according to The CW, up among women 18-34.
9 p.m. – The start of ABC's basketball coverage averaged 15.36 million viewers and a 5.8 rating among adults 18-49 to lead the 9 p.m. hour. CBS' repeats of “Mom” and “Mike & Molly” averaged 5.03 million viewers for second and a 1.0 key demo rating for third. FOX's “Wayward Pines” averaged 4.23 million viewers for third and a 1.2 key demo rating for second, again beating the 3.73 million viewers and 0.8 key demo rating for NBC's “Aquarius.” The CW's iHeart Radio Summer Pool Party averaged 870,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – Warriors-Cavaliers action averaged 17.3 million viewers and a 6.8 rating among adults 18-49 to lead ABC in the 10 p.m. hour. CBS' “Elementary” repeat averaged 3.95 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating, both beating the 1.74 million viewers and 0.5 key demo rating for NBC's “Hannibal.”
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.