The highest rated program on cable the past week was Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals on ESPN, a very good 4.9 rating with Adults 18-49 Sunday night. (Boston tied the series 2-2 with a 93-91 overtime victory over the Miami Heat.) It was also the highest rated program with young adults on all of television (broadcast or cable) Sunday night, followed by the finale of HBO’s Game of Thrones (2.2). The highest-rated broadcast network programs on Sunday were the Miss USA Pageant on NBC and a Family Guy repeat on FOX (both 1.8 rating).
Hatfields & McCoys on History was the most-watched program with viewers of any age last week. Part one on Monday (on last week’s cable chart) averaged 13.9 million viewers 2+, part two on Tuesday dropped a bit to 13.1 million, and part three (the finale of the very mini-series) on Wednesday peaked at 14.3 million. In terms of Adults 18-49, Hatfields & McCoys was a very solid 3.7, 3.7 and 4.0 by night. On Monday, May 28, part one towered over the broadcast network competition (America’s Got Talent on NBC came closest with a 2.8 rating), although AGT on Tuesday managed to tie part tie with a 3.7 rating. On Wednesday, only one program on the broadcast networks topped a 2.0 rating (FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance with a 2.7 rating), nowhere near the 4.0 for Hatfields.
While the NBA heats up on TNT and ESPN before shifting to ABC for the Finals, the NHL is struggling. Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final aired Monday on NBC Sports Network (previously Versus), averaging a 0.6 rating with Adults 18-49 and only 1.7 million viewers 2+ for a series featuring teams from the top two media markets (New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings). The Kings could end the series Wednesday in the relative obscurity of the NBC Sports Network. If New Jersey forces a Game 5, the series shifts back to NBC on Saturday.
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