| Scoreboard for Thurs. June 5, 2008 |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Viewers (million) | 9.49 | 9.08 | 8.75 | 5.03 | 1.74 |
| Rating/Share: Adults 18-49 | 3.7/11 | 3.3/10 | 2.3/7 | 2.1/6 | 0.6/2 |
Bill Gorman and I make our fair share of small wagers, though usually they are far, far into the future. But I bet him lunch that the NBA Finals would average less than 15 million viewers per game. I saw the preliminary morning household ratings and thought uh-oh! But like always, they were wrong. Numbers for live sporting events always change but during the primetime portion (and yes I know, the fourth quarter probably was peak viewing) ABC for the whole night averaged under 10 million viewers (including Jimmy Kimmel and pre-game coverage).
A good game between storied rivals didn't produce stellar ratings.
Bill acknowledges that to get big numbers the series will have to go six or seven games, but it's now looking like this game did under 12 million viewers even once the last hour or so gets added back in. But the series could well go six or seven games. When I have final numbers I'll post them. For now, as far as ABC goes the half hourly data for the whole night is posted below. Either way, ABC wound up with the most viewers and the best 18-49 year old performance, but Lakers vs. Celtics significantly underperformed last Thursday when ABC ran with three hours of LOST (a repeat and the two hour finale).
In other news, So You Think You Can Dance is still very solid, and Last Comic Standing is still getting little interest from viewers. At 10pm there was a battle of new shows with CBS' Swingtown easily beating NBC's Fear Itself. Swingtown averaged over three million more viewers than Fear Itself (8.58mm to 5.23mm) and outperformed it in the demo as well (2.8/8 vs. 2.0/6). I'd say that CBS is pretty happy while NBC is pretty disappointed. But NBC might be so used to this that it may in fact be happy that it averaged over a 2.0 in the 18-49 demo for the night.
We'll post the numbers for the whole NBA Final (including the non primetime portion) as soon as we can. Update: they have been posted. (13.38 million viewers and an 8.7 household rating).
Thursday night's details:
| Time | Network | Show | Viewers (Millons) | 18-49 Rating/Share |
| 8:00 | CBS | CSI (R ) | 8.23 | 1.9/4 |
| FOX | So You Think You Can Dance 8p-10p | 9.08 | 3.3/10 | |
| NBC | Last Comic Standing 8:00p-10:00p | 4.94 | 2.1/6 | |
| CW | Smallville (R ) | 1.70 | 0.6/2 | |
| 9:00 | CBS | CSI (R ) | 9.43 | 2.3/7 |
| CW | Supernatural (R ) | 1.77 | 0.6/2 | |
| 10:00 | CBS | Swingtown | 8.58 | 2.8/8 |
| NBC | Fear Itself | 5.23 | 2.0/6 | |
| Half-hourly data for ABC | ||||
| 8:00 | ABC | Jimmy Kimmel Live Special | 8.22 | 2.9/10 |
| 8:30 | ABC | NBA Pregame (?) | 8.94 | 3.4/11 |
| 9:00 | ABC | NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics | 9.19 | 3.6/11 |
| 9:30 | ABC | NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics | 10.00 | 3.9/11 |
| 10:00 | ABC | NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics | 10.26 | 4.1/12 |
| 10:30 | ABC | NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics | 10.35 | 4.3/13 |
Nielsen Ratings Source: Nielsen Media Research. Full night's results available via Marc Berman/Mediaweek.
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NBC probably wishes they had a hockey game to televise. Less than 10 million viewers for the NBA is not good. This is their “dream” series. Long gone are the days of 20+ million viewers…and they ain’t coming back it appears
NBC probably wishes they had a hockey game to televise. Less than 10 million viewers for the NBA is not good. This is their “dream” series. Long gone are the days of 20+ million viewers…and they ain’t coming back it appears
I agree. Maybe last year was a sign, the leauge top guy and “replacement” to Jordan (Lebron James) made it in the Finals and the NBA set all time ratings low for that series. Heck this time around, with all the hype and Kobe (much closer to Jordan) is in and the numbers appear to be pretty average at best.
The real tell about “Swingtown” and “Fear Itself” will come next week – I’m very curious to see how many people return for CBS’s trashfest of a show.
The real tell about “Swingtown” and “Fear Itself” will come next week – I’m very curious to see how many people return for CBS’s trashfest of a show.
We need 4th quarter numbers
Excellent beginning for Swingtown, and kudos to CBS for not giving into the prudes (yes, the same people who would watch brutal serial murders or vampires drinking blood), and aired something a little different.
I myself enjoyed the pilot, although I did find it too tame.
I guess I am a prude because I did choose to watch the show about vampires drinking blood and refused to even turn the channel to CBS to watch a show about multiple people having sex with anyone who would lay down with them. I wonder if they worry about STD’S. I am loyal to my husband and would not watch such filth.
I guess I am a prude because I did choose to watch the show about vampires drinking blood and refused to even turn the channel to CBS to watch a show about multiple people having sex with anyone who would lay down with them. I wonder if they worry about STD’S. I am loyal to my husband and would not watch such filth.
I guess I am a prude because I did choose to watch the show about vampires drinking blood and refused to even turn the channel to CBS to watch a show about multiple people having sex with anyone who would lay down with them. I wonder if they worry about STD’S. I am loyal to my husband and would not watch such filth.
excuse me for believing in the sanctity of marriage and keeping my wedding vows sacred. And the show that you refer to about Vampires drinking blood, even the main character in Moonlight was loyal to his significant other. Random sex is definitely something that I would want my children to see on television. (note the sarcasm)
numbers will probably increase from here…id say if they get a 6 or 7 game series (good shot of it), that the finals average around 12-13 million. getting around 10 for game 1 isn’t great, but on the bright side, they should only get better on sunday, and then swing some direct momentum into tuesday and thursday.
numbers will probably increase from here…id say if they get a 6 or 7 game series (good shot of it), that the finals average around 12-13 million. getting around 10 for game 1 isn’t great, but on the bright side, they should only get better on sunday, and then swing some direct momentum into tuesday and thursday.
numbers will probably increase from here…id say if they get a 6 or 7 game series (good shot of it), that the finals average around 12-13 million. getting around 10 for game 1 isn’t great, but on the bright side, they should only get better on sunday, and then swing some direct momentum into tuesday and thursday.
Maybe it will take time but the actors on “Swingtown” didn’t seem to have any chemistry with each other or individually. And the hair, there was something off about the hair and clothes that made the acting leaden. Even for a “swinging” part of town the jumping into bed and drug use seemed too abrupt. What it reminded me of was the old Marlon Brando/Robert Redford movie, “The Chase.” It would be nice if shocking and wicked had some dramatic purpose. A little dramatic buildup would have been nice.
Maybe it will take time but the actors on “Swingtown” didn’t seem to have any chemistry with each other or individually. And the hair, there was something off about the hair and clothes that made the acting leaden. Even for a “swinging” part of town the jumping into bed and drug use seemed too abrupt. What it reminded me of was the old Marlon Brando/Robert Redford movie, “The Chase.” It would be nice if shocking and wicked had some dramatic purpose. A little dramatic buildup would have been nice.
Maybe it will take time but the actors on “Swingtown” didn’t seem to have any chemistry with each other or individually. And the hair, there was something off about the hair and clothes that made the acting leaden. Even for a “swinging” part of town the jumping into bed and drug use seemed too abrupt. What it reminded me of was the old Marlon Brando/Robert Redford movie, “The Chase.” It would be nice if shocking and wicked had some dramatic purpose. A little dramatic buildup would have been nice.
Times have changed. I loved watching Dr J. I tried watching the game from time to time and realized I only knew 5 players. This is the NBA’s top matchup and it involves 2 teams from as far away from each other as possible that have a national following. The games start at 9p.m eastern to max ratings because the most important part of the game is the last ?? minutes and the other prime time shows are over. 6p.m. on the west coast where is makes it more easier to see the whole game. They pick good nights that people watch tv. This is the best setup to revive the NBA to where it once was. It did not happen and maybe just maybe fans are getting a little tired of watching guys who travel, double dribble, palm the ball and pat themselves on the back big time everytime they do their job. The best thing about the game yesterday was seeing the good DR J and Jabbar and Russell and remember what the game really was like, and not some guy running around saying hey look at me. The ratings will rise big time when the series finally gets going. If it doesn’t then I don’t get it.
Times have changed. I loved watching Dr J. I tried watching the game from time to time and realized I only knew 5 players. This is the NBA’s top matchup and it involves 2 teams from as far away from each other as possible that have a national following. The games start at 9p.m eastern to max ratings because the most important part of the game is the last ?? minutes and the other prime time shows are over. 6p.m. on the west coast where is makes it more easier to see the whole game. They pick good nights that people watch tv. This is the best setup to revive the NBA to where it once was. It did not happen and maybe just maybe fans are getting a little tired of watching guys who travel, double dribble, palm the ball and pat themselves on the back big time everytime they do their job. The best thing about the game yesterday was seeing the good DR J and Jabbar and Russell and remember what the game really was like, and not some guy running around saying hey look at me. The ratings will rise big time when the series finally gets going. If it doesn’t then I don’t get it.
Times have changed. I loved watching Dr J. I tried watching the game from time to time and realized I only knew 5 players. This is the NBA’s top matchup and it involves 2 teams from as far away from each other as possible that have a national following. The games start at 9p.m eastern to max ratings because the most important part of the game is the last ?? minutes and the other prime time shows are over. 6p.m. on the west coast where is makes it more easier to see the whole game. They pick good nights that people watch tv. This is the best setup to revive the NBA to where it once was. It did not happen and maybe just maybe fans are getting a little tired of watching guys who travel, double dribble, palm the ball and pat themselves on the back big time everytime they do their job. The best thing about the game yesterday was seeing the good DR J and Jabbar and Russell and remember what the game really was like, and not some guy running around saying hey look at me. The ratings will rise big time when the series finally gets going. If it doesn’t then I don’t get it.