NETWORK UPDATE: The time-zone adjusted rating for Game 2 of the NBA FINALS climbed to 6.0. As expected, the primetime JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE and NBA COUNTDOWN dropped heavily, from 2.2/2.3 to 1.1/1.3.
SATURDAY CABLE: Starz’s POWER needed two runs, at 9 and 10PM, to accumulate a passable 0.3 rating in 18-49s (9PM was 0.15, 10PM was 0.16). There are the usual excuses about the pilot being available online and on VOD in advance and the many runs the pilot had across the Starz/Encore platforms over the weekend, but a DAVINCI’S DEMONS-level rating for this high-profile project is a disappointment, as both premiere showings combined had only 800K total viewers. Meanwhile, on BBCAmerica, ORPHAN BLACK climbed a tad to 0.27, while THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW remained at 0.12, and IN THE FLESH fell even lower than it had been, to a microscopic 0.02.
SUNDAY CABLE: Perhaps because of the basketball competition, GAME OF THRONES slipped 0.2 to a still-mighty 3.7 rating in 18-49s, despite the hype over the huge scale of the season’s penultimate episode and its battle sequence. (GAME added 0.5 with its 11:30PM run.) The season finale of VEEP and LAST WEEK TONIGHT both remained in lockstep with each other and with last week at 0.5. On AMC, the TURN season finale climbed to 0.38 from last week’s 0.29, but the second episode of HALT AND CATCH FIRE lost one-third of its premiere audience anyway, down to 0.23 from last week’s 0.34–now clearly a flop. On Showtime, the line-up was down a bit, with the newly-renewed PENNY DREADFUL at 0.3, NURSE JACKIE at 0.19 and CALIFORNICATION at 0.13. On Lifetime, DEVIOUS MAIDS fell 0.1 to 0.6, while DROP DEAD DIVA stayed at 0.5. SALEM (WGN America) was steady at 0.21. On Bravo, a REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA special was at 1.0 and MARRIED TO MEDICINE was at 0.8, holding even with last week. KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS (E) was at 1.1, plus 0.5 for the 11PM re-airing.
3 networks aired high-profile competitions last night. But in the ratings, it was no contest.
ABC: Preliminary numbers for Game 2 of THE NBA FINALS were at 5.0, down 0.1 from Game 1’s early rating but up 0.4 from last year’s preliminary for Game 2. That number will come up significantly once time-zone adjustments are made tomorrow. Conversely, the current 2.2 for the primetime JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE (up 0.1 from Thursday) and the 2.3 for NBA COUNTDOWN (down 0.5 from Thursday) will decrease. In any case, Game 2’s only serious competition will come from Game of Thrones–which it will beat only because HBO is in just 1/3 of US homes.
CBS: THE TONY AWARDS held steady with last year’s 1.2 and 7M total viewers (it ran past its scheduled 11PM end-time, so the final number may shift tomorrow). The night started with 1.0 for a 60 MINUTES rerun.
NBC: The MISS USA PAGEANT was at 1.4, up 0.1 from last year. It was preceded by an 0.9 DATELINE, up 0.1 from last week.
FOX: The finale of COSMOS was down 0.2 from last week to 1.1. At 7PM, a burned-off episode of ENLISTED held at 0.4. The night’s highest rerun was 1.2 for FAMILY GUY.
Tonight features regular programming on all the networks except for Diane Sawyer’s interview with Hillary Clinton on ABC. On cable, TNT launches Steven Bochco’s MURDER IN THE FIRST after the season premiere of MAJOR CRIMES.
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