Fast National ratings for Tuesday, June 9, 2015.
The Cleveland Cavaliers held on for a Game 3 victory to take the lead in the NBA Finals, leading ABC to an even more decisive victory on Tuesday night in all measures.
With basketball dominating the night, NBC's “America's Got Talent” and “Hell's Kitchen” were among several shows down in young viewers, but even with the basketball, “Hell's Kitchen” was up in total viewers, while “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader” and “I Can Do That” were also up slightly.
The season finale for The CW's “iZombie” slipped a little bit.
Remember, as always, that these basketball numbers represent time period data and not ratings for the game itself, since the game ended outside of primetime on the East Coast and started pre-primetime on the West Coast, home of the Golden State Warriors.
Let's get to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, ABC did a 4.9 rating for Tuesday night, more than doubling the 2.0 rating for NBC in the key demographic. FOX was third with a 0.9 key demo rating, followed by CBS' 0.7 key demo rating. The CW averaged a 0.4 key demo rating for the night.
Overall, ABC averaged an estimated 12.62 million viewers and a 7.6 rating/13 share for Tuesday primetime. NBC was a distant second with 8.79 million viewers and a 5.2/9, ahead of the 6.47 million viewers and 4.4/8 for CBS. FOX averaged 3.17 million viewers and a 1.9/3 for the night, while The CW averaged 1.31 million viewers and a 0.9/2.
8 p.m. – NBC started primetime in first overall with 9.84 million viewers for the start of “America's Got Talent,” which finished second with a 2.1 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's Jimmy Kimmel special and NBA pregame averaged 8.65 million viewers and a 3.1 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' “NCIS” repeat averaged 7.21 million viewers, easily beating the 2.93 million viewers for FOX's “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader,” but both networks averaged a 0.8 key demo rating. The CW's “Flash” repeat averaged 1.22 million viewers and a 0.4 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – The start of the basketball game pushed ABC to 13.58 million viewers and a 5.2 rating among adults 18-49 in the 9 p.m. hour. NBC's “America's Got Talent” rose to 10.83 million viewers and a 2.4 key demo rating in second. CBS' “NCIS: New Orleans” repeat averaged 6.64 million viewers and a 0.8 key demo rating, compared to the 3.4 million viewers and 1.0 key demo rating for FOX's “Hell's Kitchen.” And The CW's “iZombie” season finale averaged 1.395 million viewers and a 0.5 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – ABC closed primetime with 15.64 million viewers and a 6.3 rating among adults 18-49 for Warriors-Cavaliers action. NBC's “I Can Do That” averaged 5.69 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating for second, topping the 5.57 million viewers and 0.7 key demo rating for CBS' “48 Hours.”
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.