By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --The NBA’s first international Finals may be a coup for Canada, but decidedly not for ABC.
Viewership for the first two games of the series between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors was down sharply from last year’s finals — 24 percent for the first game and 26 percent for the second, the Nielsen company said..
While LeBron James fans may point to the star’s absence, geography likely accounts for most of the drop. Toronto’s television audience is not included in the Nielsen ratings, since it’s out of the U.S. Missing one team’s fan base is a huge hurdle for ABC.
It’s Golden State’s fifth straight appearance in the finals, while Toronto is there for the first time.
The most hopeful sign for ABC is that the teams split the first two games, raising the possibility of a long series. Viewership traditionally increases with competitive series.
The surest sign that summer is near is the return of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” which was the top non-sports program of the week.
Behind the basketball, ABC won the week in primetime, averaging 5.4 million viewers. NBC had 3.92 million, nipping CBS and its average of 3.91 million. Fox had 2 million viewers, ION Television had 1.4 million, Univision had 1.3 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW had 650,000.
Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.24 million viewers in primetime. MSNBC had 1.48 million, HGTV had 1.29 million, USA had 1.14 million and Hallmark had 1.12 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.1 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.3 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.3 million.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for May 27-June 2. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NBA Finals Game 2: Golden State at Toronto, ABC, 13.89 million.
2. NBA Finals Game 1: Golden State at Toronto, ABC, 13.38 million.
3. “NBA Finals Post-Game” (Sunday), ABC, 9.89 million.
4. “America’s Got Talent,” NBC, 9.75 million.
5. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.01 million.
6. “NCIS” (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), CBS, 6.14 million.
7. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 6.03 million.
8. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 5.86 million.
9. “NCIS” (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), CBS, 5.58 million.
10. “Songland,” NBC, 5.51 million.
11. NHL Stanley Cup Finals Game 1: St. Louis at Boston, NBC, 5.27 million.
12. “Mom,” CBS, 5.11 million.
13. “American Ninja Warrior,” NBC, 4.84 million.
14. “Life in Pieces,” CBS, 4.8 million.
15. “NBA Countdown” (Thursday), ABC, 4.77 million.
16. “Amazing Race,” CBS, 4.75 million.
17. “The Bachelorette,” ABC, 4.68 million.
18. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 4.52 million.
19. “Blood & Treasure,” CBS, 4.23 million.
20. “Whistleblower,” CBS, 4.14 million.
ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.; CBS is a division of CBS Corp.; Fox is owned by 21st Century Fox; NBC is owned by NBC Universal.
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
The one rule to follow is that... Read More