Los Angeles Lakers’ NBA Finals Win on ABC Crushed by ‘Sunday Night Football’ in Early Ratings
ABC’s broadcast of the Los Angeles Lakers’ victory over the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the 2020 NBA finals was no match for “Sunday Night Football” on NBC, according to the earliest available Nielsen numbers.
Last night, the Lakers’ defeat of the Heat was down 57% in TV ratings from the big finish of 2019’s NBA finals, when the Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors. Of course that Game 6, which aired in June, wasn’t up against the NFL.
Due to the nature of live television, below data for ABC, NBC and CBS should be considered subject to significant adjustment when final numbers come in later Monday.
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NBC was first in ratings with a 2.7 rating/15 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 10.1 million, according to preliminary numbers. Following its pregame show, the Minnesota Vikings vs. Seattle Seahawks game kicked off at 8:30 p.m. and scored a 3.2 rating and 11.4 million viewers.
ABC was second in ratings with a 1.9/10 and third in viewers with 5.1 million. At 7, pregame show “NBA Countdown” scored a 1.4/8 and 4.4 million viewers. The NBA Finals game itself, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET, averaged a 2.1/11 and 5.6 million viewers. At 10:30, “Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night” earned a 0.8/5 and 2.5 million viewers.
CBS was third in ratings with a 1.7/9 and second in viewers with 8.8 million. After an NFL overrun, “60 Minutes” at 8 pulled in a 1.2/6 and 9.5 million viewers. At 9, a “60 Minutes Presents” special earned a 0.5/3 and 4.3 million viewers. An airing of the 1995 movie “Clueless” followed at 10 with a 0.4/2 and 2 million viewers through the end of primetime.
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Fox and Telemundo tied for fourth in ratings, both with a 0.4/2. Fox was fourth in viewers with 1.2 million and Telemundo was fifth with 1.130 million.
For Fox, following back-t0-back rerun, “The Simpsons” at 8 had a 0.5/2 and 1.3 million viewers. At 8:30, “Bless the Harts” settled for a 0.4/2 and 1 million viewers. “Bob’s Burgers” at 9 took a 0.5/2 and 1.3 million viewers. At 9:30, “Family Guy” ended the programming block with a 0.6/3 and 1.4 million viewers.
Univision was sixth in ratings with a 0.3/2 and in viewers with 1.124 million.
The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.1/0 and in viewers with 440,000. Following local programming, a new episode of “Pandora” at 8 managed a 0.1/0 and 429,000 viewers. An encore followed.
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