Game 5 of the NBA Finals yielded a huge night for ABC, yielding big year-to-year ratings gains and leading the network to a Sunday-night win in virtually every key ratings benchmark.
Here are Sunday’s ratings highlights.
PARTY LIKE IT’S 2008: With the Boston Celtics putting the Los Angeles Lakers in their hot-tub time machine, transporting them to 2008, when they easily beat L.A., Game 5 of the NBA Finals yielded a 36 percent ratings bounce from Game 5 of the championship round last year. The final hour of coverage averaged more than 16.1 million viewers, while the game averaged a 5.4 rating/15 share in the all-important adults 18-49 demo.
FAMILY FRIENDLY: With viewers enamored with either the NBA Finals, or the season premiere of HBO’s “True Blood,” there weren’t many eye balls left. Fox’s repeat of “Family Guy” was the only scripted show of the night to register above a 2.0 rating in adults 18-49 (it registered a 2.1/6).
TEPID TONYS: CBS' broadcast of the 2010 Tony awards scored a 1.2/4 in adults 18-49. The broadcast of the Broadway awards show failed to improve upon its lead-in, "60 Minutes," and was down about 8% from last year's telecast.
