By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --The NBA Finals is off and running with its best ratings through two games since the Chicago Bulls’ last championship in 1998. Now ABC has to hope the Cleveland Cavaliers can make it competitive.
The first two games, both won by the Golden State Warriors, averaged 19.2 million viewers, the Nielsen company said. The interest in championship series usually increase if they are evenly matched, so if the Cavs can take a few games ABC would be in great shape.
Unfortunately for the network, the Warriors haven’t lost in the playoffs yet.
NBC had a strong showing with the debut of Megyn Kelly’s newsmagazine, “Sunday Night,” featuring her interview with Vladimir Putin. It landed among the week’s 10 most-watched TV shows and, although it lost to CBS’ “60 Minutes” in the time slot, won among younger viewers.
Basketball led ABC, which averaged 6.8 million viewers, to a weekly victory in primetime. NBC had 5.2 million viewers, CBS had 4.4 million, Fox had 2.3 million, Univision had 1.5 million, ION television had 1.3 million, Telemundo had 870,000 and the CW had 820,000.
Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.21 million viewers in primetime. HGTV had 1.49 million, MSNBC had 1.32 million, USA had 1.27 million and TBS had 1.23 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 7.5 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” was second with 7.1 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.7 million.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for May 29-June 4. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NBA Finals: Cleveland vs. Golden State, Game 2, ABC, 19.69 million.
2. NBA Finals: Cleveland vs. Golden State, Game 1, ABC, 18.7 million.
3. “America’s Got Talent,” NBC 12.32 million.
4. “World of Dance,” NBC, 9.71 million.
5. “Little Big Shots,” NBC, 7.45 million.
6. “NCIS,” CBS, 7.35 million.
7. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 6.79 million.
8. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 6.73 million.
9. “Bull,” CBS, 6.51 million.
10. “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly,” NBC, 6.2 million.
11. “NBA Countdown” (Game 1), ABC, 6.03 million.
12. “The Bachelorette,” ABC, 5.69 million.
13. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 5.57 million.
14. “NCIS: Los Angeles” (Sunday, 8 p.m.), CBS, 5.12 million.
15. “Criminal Minds,” CBS, 5.03 million.
16. “NCIS: Los Angeles” (Wednesday, 8 p.m.), CBS, 4.96 million.
17. NHL Stanley Cup Final: Nashville vs. Pittsburgh, Game 1, NBC, 4.86 million.
18. “Hawaii Five-0,” CBS, 4.8 million.
19. “NBA Countdown” (Game 2), ABC, 4.78 million.
20. “Dateline NBC,” NBC, 4.75 million.
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More