NBA Finals deliver victory to ABC

Fox's 'Dance' takes second spot in ratings

By JON WEISMAN

Though final numbers for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on ABC won't come until later today, it's apparent that Thursday's marquee event will propel the Alphabet to a primetime victory, according to affiliate-based preliminary nationals from Nielsen. Fox and "So You Think You Can Dance" were the top-rated competitors among conventional programs in the adults 18-49 demo.

The opener of the best-of-seven series between the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers, billed as "Disney World vs. Disneyland," aired from approximately 6 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. on the West Coast, covering the final two hours of primetime on the East. ABC's provisionary result from 9-11 p.m. was a 4.4 rating and 12 share among adults 18-49 with 10.5 million viewers overall, while the early returns from 8-9 p.m. (which included a pregame show in the East) were 2.8/9, 7.3 million.

"So You Think You Can Dance" (3.1/9, 8.2 million) easily won at 9 p.m. for Fox against repeats of CBS' "CSI" (1.5/4, 7.7 million) and the CW's "Supernatural" (0.5/1, 1.2 million) as well as a firstrun episode of NBC's "The Listener" (1.5/4, 5.2 million).

Discounting ABC, "I'm a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here" (1.9/6, 5.2 million) won the 18-49 demo for NBC at 8 p.m.. CBS plugged repeats of comedies from other nights to its 8 p.m. slot: "The Big Bang Theory" (1.6/6, 5.8 million) and "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (1.4/4, 5.2 million). Fox's "Bones" (1.6/5, 6.1 million) and the CW's "Smallville" (0.4/1, 1.4 million) rounded out the hour.

At 10 p.m., a rerun of "The Mentalist" (1.9/5, 8.6 million) on CBS edged a second fresh "Listener" (1.4/4, 5.3 million).

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: ABC 3.8/11, Fox 2.4/7, CBS 1.6/5, NBC 1.6/5, Univision 1.4/4, CW 0.4/1.

In total viewers: ABC 9.4 million, CBS 7.2 million, Fox 7.2 million, NBC 5.3 million, Univision 3.7 million, CW 1.3 million