Baskets power Peacock
NBC wins week with 4.6 rating
The final season of the "NBA on NBC" has proved mighty powerful for the Peacock, as a trio of thrilling Western Conference Finals games between the L.A. Lakers and Sacramento Kings dominated last week's Nielsen contest.
As a result, NBC won the week ending June 2 with a commanding 4.6 rating and 14 share among adults 18-49 -- a strong 84% advantage over second-place CBS (2.5/7), the best margin of victory for any net (save, of course, the Super Bowl and Olympics) since last year's NBA Finals.
Peacock also took the week in total viewers (10.9 million to No. 2 CBS' 9 million) and stole the show with households (7.3/13), adults 18-34 (4.5/15) and adults 25-54 (4.9/14). Net was up double digits in every measurement vs. last year.
No one's probably cheering harder (well, besides Peacock and NBA execs) than the folks at ESPN and ABC Sports, who take over NBA playoffs and finals coverage starting next season. This year's boffo performance should juice ad prices for next year's contest.
NBC was assisted by Sunday's thrilling Game 7 of the Lakers-Kings matchup, which attracted 23.8 million viewers and averaged an 11.0/29 with adults 18-49. Viewers congregated to watch the Lakers narrowly defeat the Kings in OT, making it the highest-rated NBA game in the two measurements since 1998's NBA Finals Game 6, when Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz, marking Jordan's final Finals appearance.
The game also scored a 14.4/24 with households, making it the highest-rated-ever Western Conference Finals game and the top NBA telecast in homes since the Lakers faced the Indiana Pacers in 2000's NBA Finals Game 6.
Sunday's game far outweighed last year's cakewalk of a Western Conference finale, as just 7.7 million viewers (3.4/15 adults 18-49) watched the Lakers annihilate the San Antonio Spurs. A better comparison would be two years ago, as a Sunday night Game 7 between the Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers averaged 19.1 million viewers and a 9.3/25 with adults 18-49.
According to NBC Sports, all 31 telecasts of the NBA Playoffs' first three rounds have averaged a 5.6/13 with households, up 14% from last year's 4.9/12 (30 telecasts).
Beyond the Lakers-Kings Game 7, which wound up the week's top-rated program with adults 18-49, Friday's coverage of Game 6 was No. 2 for the week in the demo (7.4/25), followed by Tuesday's Lakers-Kings matchup (6.7/19). Wednesday's Eastern Conference game between the eventual champion New Jersey Nets and Boston Celtics was No. 8 for the week (4.3/13).
In viewers, CBS' all-powerful "CSI" (17.2 million) snuck into second place behind Sunday's NBA game, followed by the Friday game (16.6 million) and Tuesday contest (14.6 million).
Beyond NBC and CBS, Fox was third with adults 18-49 for the week (2.3/7), followed by ABC (2.2/7), UPN (1.3/4) and the WB (1.1/3). Among viewers, ABC was third (6.2 million), followed by Fox (5.1 million), UPN (3.2 million) and WB (2.7 million).
Monday
Return of Peacock's edgy hidden camera skein "Spy TV" won its time period with adults 18-49 (4.5/12), helping NBC narrowly win the night in demos. CBS, however, dominated with viewers, led by a repeat of "Everybody Loves Raymond." Part two of "The Hamptons" scored so-so marks for ABC, averaging a 3.2/9 with adults 18-49.
Sunday
With tough NBA competish -- and contenders such as "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and "Urinetown" -- perhaps it's no surprise the Eye's Tonycast generated totally crappy Nielsens -- lowest-ever, in fact (7.98 million/1.6/4 adults 18-49.) Among younger demos, kudos even finished behind ABC's so-so Part One of the reality mini "The Hamptons" (7.14m, 2.8/7.) Fox's new nonfiction dating skein "Looking for Love: Bachelorettes in Alaska" (6.1m, 2.4/6) was looking for ratings, though premiere seg actually attracted 22% more viewers than what Fox earned in the same slot a year ago.
Saturday
A condensed repeat of the NBC mini "The '60s" (2.87m, 1.1/4) proved to be the ratings equivalent of a bad acid trip for the Peacock, but it could have been worse: Pic still outdrew ABC's Latino-flavored "ALMA Awards" (2.1m, 0.8/3). Fox's usual lineup of "Cops" and "America's Most Wanted" romped as usual, raising the question: Why haven't the other nets simply ripped off the law enforcement-meets-cameras formula?
Friday
As NBC again cleaned up with NBA Playoffs coverage, CBS settled for second on the night with the oddball mix of "Funny Flubs and Screw-Ups 7," one of the last all-new episodes of "First Monday" and "48 Hours." ABC tied the eye in demos thanks to "20/20"; the "World Stunt Awards" (4.5m, 1.4/5), however, was no help at all. UPN original pic "What About Your Friends" (2.47m, 1.0/3) had a few more pals than the WB's Friday laffers, which ranked last for the evening.
Thursday
Viewers came on down for a primetime edition of "The Price Is Right" (10.31m, 2.6/9), which won the 8 o'clock slot in viewers and, along with a "CSI" repeat, helped CBS win the night by that measure. NBC took first in adults 18-49, even though "ER" (3.5/10) barely edged ABC's "PrimeTime" (3.4/10) at 10 p.m. in demos. Alphabet newsmag had its best showing since April.
Wednesday
Auds were rushin' to watch Miss Russia take the "Miss Universe" crown: Spec (11.34m, 4.0/11) drew its best total viewer tally since 1998 and helped CBS win the night in all major categories. NBA-pumped NBC might have won the night were it not for the poor numbers generated by an 8 p.m. repeat of "The West Wing" (6.1m, 1.7/6). ABC's 8 p.m. laffers ("My Wife and Kids," "According to Jim") took 8-9 p.m. in demos, but even with a title change to "My Adventures in Television," nobody cared about the show formerly known as "Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central.)"
Tuesday
Viewers left hanging when ABC pulled "The Mole II" last fall returned and brought some friends as the relaunch of the reality mystery drew more viewers than the skein's original premiere. Net aired two episodes back-to-back, with the second building on the first. Eye's dramas dominated in viewers, though nothing was a match for the NBA on NBC. A repeat of "Smallville" on the WB (4.2m, 1.8/5) demolished repeats of UPN laffers "Girlfriends" and "The Parkers" and came close to knocking off Fox's comedy duo of "Bernie Mac" and "Andy Richter."
Monday
Viewers remembered to watch repeats of the Eye's laffers on Memorial Day, helping the net score an easy victory by all measures. NBC's Tom Brokaw spec "The Price for Peace" (7.13m, 2.3/6) did only so-so numbers but still ranked second for the evening.
