Another thrilling overtime contest in the NBA Finals led ABC to another easy victory on Sunday, finishing with an overall 5.3 rating/18 share with adults 18-49 in primetime, according to Nielsen overnight numbers.
The game, this time won by the Cleveland Cavaliers to even the series at 1-1, averaged 18.8 million viewers, up 6% from Game 1 and the most-watched Game 2 ever on ABC. Through two games, The Finals is averaging 18.3 million viewers, the most ever on ABC through that span. Among the 18-49 crowd, Game 2 surged 24% from last year to a 7.3 rating, which was also up 8% from Thursday's opening game.
Against basketball, CBS’ broadcast of The Tony Awards fell 25% from last year to a 0.9 rating, the show’s lowest rating ever. The annual three-hour program averaged 6.35 million total viewers.
NBC was in third with a 0.7/2. Dateline was even with a 1.0, while A.D. The Bible Continues fell 22% to a 0.7 and American Odyssey dipped 20% to a 0.4.
Fox (0.6/2) aired mostly repeats except for a new Golan the Insatiable, which was down two tenths to a 0.4.
