The suckers from "True Blood" appear to have met their match with the dribblers from the NBA.
The sixth season of HBO's vampy hit premiered on Sunday to lower numbers than the Season 5 premiere, drawing 4.5 million total viewers compared to last season's 5.2 million.
See video: 'True Blood' Premiere: 7 Things to Know Before Watching Season 6
Part of the drop can no doubt be attributed to competition from Game 5 of the NBA Finals, which dominated network ratings on Sunday night. According to preliminary numbers, Sunday night's game drew 14.2 million total viewers. (The Season 5 premiere did not air against the NBA Finals.)
The good news for the "True Blood" premiere? It managed to beat out April's Season 3 premiere of HBO's dragons-and-swords fantasy hit "Game of Thrones," which drew 4.4 million total viewers.
Over two airings, the Season 6 premiere of "True Blood" accumulated 5.6 million total viewers.
In other "True Blood" news, the special "#True Blood: Live From the Set" at 8:45 p.m. drew in 2.3 million total viewers.
