TV Ratings: NBA Gives ABC a Demo Win
A primetime NBA game carried ABC to a demographic victory on Sunday, pulling in preliminary numbers in line with the network's primetime games earlier in the season. CBS' 60 Minutes led the total-viewer rankings by a sizable margin.
ABC's coverage of the Houston Rockets' 120-116 win over the Milwaukee Bucks averaged a 0.8 rating among adults 18-49 and 2.18 million viewers in the fast national ratings — numbers that will likely change somewhat after adjusting for the live telecast. Earlier in the season ABC averaged a 0.7 in the 18-49 demographic and 2.34 million viewers with its NBA Saturday Primetime franchise.
At CBS, 60 Minutes drew 7.07 million viewers — almost double the number for the second most watched show on the broadcast networks in primetime (an America's Funniest Home Videos rerun on ABC with 3.75 million viewers). The newsmagazine also scored a 0.6 in the 18-49 demo.
The only other originals on the broadcast networks Sunday were on The CW, which debuted a pair of acquired series — neither of which drew much of a crowd. Canadian cooking show Fridge Wars and British comedic game show Taskmaster each posted 0.1s in the demo and averaged a modest 328,000 viewers between them.
ABC led the night among adults 18-49 with a 0.7 average, pending updates. CBS finished second at 0.4, and NBC, Telemundo and Univision tied for third at 0.3. Fox drew a 0.2 with a night of reruns, and The CW came in at 0.1.
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