NBA Finals, NBC’s Reality Lead Week’s Primetime Ratings

ABC slam-dunked the competition last week as the opening two games of the NBA Finals lifted the net to its third demo victory in the last four weeks.

The hoops action may have been down from last year, but the Alphabet ruled Thursday and Sunday with it.

Actually, sports and reality took the other nights too: TNT won Monday with an NBA conference semifinal game; NBC took Tuesday with “The Voice” and the return of “America’s Got Talent”; Fox led Wednesday with “MasterChef, while ABC won Friday behind “Shark Tank,” and NBC led Saturday with hockey.

The week featured the premieres of numerous scripted cable series, including ABC Family’s “The Fosters” and TNT’s “Graceland,” both of which did OK. And among returning series, USA’s “Burn Notice” joined TNT’s “Falling Skies” and MTV’s “Teen Wolf” in posting good numbers.

As for original broadcast fare, there wasn’t a whole lot happening, as none of the summer’s six new entries could do better than a 1.2 rating in adults 18-49.

Overall, according to Nielsen estimates for June 3-9, ABC led in adults 18-49 with a 2.0 rating/7 share, followed by NBC (1.5/5), Univision (1.3/4), Fox (1.2/4), TNT (1.2/3) and CBS (1.0/3). This is the second straight sixth-place finish in 18-49 for the Eye, whose big guns “Under the Dome” and the thrice-weekly “Big Brother” don’t bow until the end of the month.

ABC also led in adults 25-54 (2.3/7) and even beat out CBS in total viewers (6.0 million to 5.9 million).

For the Alphabet, Sunday’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals between Miami and San Antonio (5.8/17 in 18-49, 14.57m) and Thursday’s Game 2 (5.7/18 in 18-49, 14.24m) were easily the week’s top two programs. Compared to last year’s Miami-Oklahoma City finals, this year’s is down 18% in 18-49 (from 7.0) and 12% in total viewers (from 16.4 million).

Among recent additions to the sked, drama “Mistresses” opened to lackluster numbers (1.2/3 in 18-49, 4.40m), though it was up to a 1.4 in its second episode on Monday of this week. And Wednesday’s “The Lookout” (1.1/3, 3.83m) held at its premiere level of last week.

A repeat of “Shark Tank” (1.3/5 in 18-49, 4.98m) and the return of “What Would You Do?” (1.3/4 in 18-49, 4.14m) made for a good tandem on Friday.

NBC had the best showing with entertainment programming last week, with “The Voice” on Monday and Tuesday teaming with Tuesday’s season premiere of “America’s Got Talent” (3.1/9 in 18-49, 11.22m) to give the net the top three series telecasts in 18-49 as well as total viewers.

“Revolution” edged up for its season finale on Monday (2.0/5 in 18-49, 6.17m), while “Hannibal” (0.9/3, 2.36m) dropped a bit opposite basketball and was edged out in 18-49 by a repeat of CBS’ “Elementary.”

At Fox, Wednesday’s 9 p.m. hour of “MasterChef” (2.6/8 in 18-49, 5.98m) and Thursday’s episode of “Hell’s Kitchen” (2.2/7 in 18-49, 5.28m) ranked among primetime’s top 10 programs for the week in 18-49, but the net isn’t doing much after “Kitchen” on Thursday with “Does Someone Have to Go?” (1.1/3 in 18-49, 2.68m).

CBS was led by encores of “The Big Bang Theory” (2.3/8 in 18-49, 9.40m) and “Two and a Half Men” (1.7/6, 7.23m). “Brooklyn DA” is struggling on Tuesday (0.7/2 in 18-49, 3.83m), while Wednesday’s “American Baking Competition” is doing a bit better (1.1/4, 4.73m) and held steady from its premiere of the previous week.

The third-season finale of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” (2.9/9 in 18-49, 5.39m) was up 30% from its year-ago ender to stand as the week’s No. 1 scripted telecast among young adults.

TNT’s third-season premiere of “Falling Skies” did well (1.5/4 in 18-49, 4.21m), up slightly in 18-49 from last year and the week’s top-rated basic cable drama in this category. It was a sluggish start, meanwhile, for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s competition series “The Hero” on Thursday (0.7/2 in 18-49, 1.53m).

At USA, “Burn Notice” (1.2/4, 4.32m) opened its seventh and final season by edging up from last year’s premiere in 25-54 and total viewers. It led into new cop drama “Graceland” (0.8/2, 3.32m), which had an OK bow opposite basketball, retaining more than two-thirds of its lead-in in key demos and nearly 80% in total viewers.

At OWN, Tuesday drama “Haves and the Have Nots” helped up pretty well in its second week (0.5 in 18-49, 1.47m), down 14% in 18-49 from its opening hour and about three times the network’s primetime average for the week. Wednesday comedy “Love Thy Neighbor” wasn’t as fortunate (0.3 in 18-49, 1.10 million viewers overall at 9 p.m. and 0.4 in 18-49 and 1.23 million total viewers at 9:30 for its back-to-back episodes), tumbling more than 30% from its premiere; one plus was the growth from its first half-hour to its second for a second straight week.

MTV’s “Teen Wolf” (1.0/3 in 18-49. 2.36m) kicked off its third season with record highs, rising 62% above its first Monday of last year.

TLC’s “Little Couple” topped 2 million viewers Tuesday as it headed into its midseason break; the first half of its fifth season has produced the show’s best ratings to date.

WEEK’S TOP PRIMETIME PROGRAMS

Adults 18-49
1. NBA Finals: Game 2-Sunday (ABC), 5.8/17
2. NBA Finals: Game 1-Thursday (ABC), 5.7/18
3. NBA East Finals: Game 7-Monday (TNT), 5.1/14
4. The Voice-Monday (NBC), 3.3/9
5. The Voice-Tuesday (NBC), 3.1/11
5. America’s Got Talent (NBC), 3.1/9
7. Game of Thrones (HBO), 2.9/9
8. MasterChef-9 (Fox), 2.6/8
9. The Big Bang Theory-r (CBS), 2.3/8
10. Hell’s Kitchen (Fox), 2.2/7
—————
11. MasterChef-8 (Fox), 2.1/7
12. NBA Countdown-Thursday (ABC), 2.0/7
12. Revolution (NBC), 2.0/5
14. Two and a Half Men-r (CBS), 1.7/6
14. The Bachelorette (ABC), 1.7/5
14. So You Think You Can Dance (Fox), 1.7/5
17. Falling Skies (TNT), 1.5/4
17. Love & Hip Hop Atlanta (VH1), 1.5/4
19. NBA Countdown-Sunday (ABC), 1.4/5
19. NHL West Finals: Game 5-Saturday (NBC), 1.4/5

Total Viewers (in millions)
1. NBA Finals: Game 2-Sunday (ABC), 14.57
2. NBA Finals: Game 1-Thursday (ABC), 14.24
3. NBA East Finals: Game 7-Monday (TNT), 11.57
4. The Voice-Monday (NBC), 11.29
5. America’s Got Talent (NBC), 11.22
6. The Voice-Tuesday (NBC), 10.87
7. The Big Bang Theory-r (CBS), 9.40
8. 60 Minutes (CBS), 9.30
9. NCIS (CBS), 8.94
10. NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), 7.88
—————–
11. Tony Awards (CBS), 7.30
12. Two and a Half Men-r (CBS), 7.23
13. Person of Interest-r (CBS), 6.65
14. CSI-r (CBS), 6.50
15. 48 Hours-r (CBS), 6.38
16. Dateline-Friday (NBC), 6.36
17. Revolution (NBC), 6.17
18. MasterChef-9 (Fox), 5.98
19. Blue Bloods-r (CBS), 5.78
20. The Bachelorette (ABC), 5.69

WEEK’S TOP NETWORKS
(in millions)

Total Viewers
ABC 6.01
CBS 5.92
NBC 5.59
Fox 3.27
UNI 3.26
TNT 2.94
USA 2.83
Disney 2.26
History 2.10
FNC 1.89

Adults 18-49
ABC 2.56 (2.0/7)
TNT 1.92
NBC 1.78 (1.4/4)
UNI 1.63
Fox 1.59 (1.3/4)
ABC 1.31 (1.0/3)
CBS 1.25 (1.0/3)
TBS 1.05
TEL 0.94
USA 0.85
HIST 0.81

Adults 25-54
NBC 2.16
TNT 1.90
Fox 1.75
CBS 1.70
ABC 1.59
UNI 1.58
TBS 1.06
HIST 0.95
TEL 0.92
USA 0.90

SEASON-TO-DATE NETWORK RANKINGS

Total Viewers (in millions)
CBS 11.48 (+1% from last season)
ABC 7.75 (-6%)
NBC 6.92 (-5%)
Fox 6.84 (-21%)
4-Nets 32.99 (-7%)

CW 1.73 (+5%)
TEL 1.39 (+15%)
UNI 3.67 (+1%)

Adults 18-49 (Rating/share)
CBS 2.8/8 (-3%)
Fox 2.4/7 (-23%)
NBC 2.3/7 (-5%)
ABC 2.2/6 (-8%)
4-nets 9.7/28 (-10%)

CW 0.7/2 (Even)
TEL 0.6/2 (+20%)
UNI 1.5/4 (Even)

Adults 25-54
CBS 3.7/9 (-3%)
NBC 2.8/7 (-3%)
Fox 2.8/7 (-15%)
ABC 2.7/7 (-10%)
4-nets 7.6/25 (-7%)

CW 0.7/2 (-13%)
TEL 0.6/2 (+20%)
UNI 1.5/4 (Even)

Adults 18-34
Fox 2.2/7 (-15%)
CBS 1.8/6 (Even)
NBC 1.8/6 (-5%)
ABC 1.7/6 (-6%)
4-nets 7.5/25 (-7%)

CW 0.7/2 (-13%)
TEL 0.6/2 (+20%)
UNI 1.3/4 (-13%)

Related stories

Basketball Rolls Tuesday for ABC as NBC's 'Voice' Hits Low

ABC's 'Mistresses' Rises, NBC's 'Winner' Gets Sampled Monday

Tonys on CBS Above 7 Million for First Time in Four Years

Get more from Variety.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter