The NBA playoffs continued to bolster the ratings fortunes of ESPN and TNT last week as both networks finished among the top three most-watched networks on the primetime chart.
ESPN led all cable networks in primetime during the week of May 23-29 with an average of 3.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen. It was bolstered by its May 29 Boston Celtics-Miami Heat Game 7 Eastern Conference Finals telecast, which averaged 9.8 million viewers.
TNT, which drew 6.8 million viewers for Game 5 of the Golden State Warriors-Dallas Mavericks Western Conference Finals on May 26, finished third for the week with 2.2 million viewers.
Fox News Channel came in second place for the week with 2.2 million viewers, while MSNBC pulled into fourth with 1 million viewers and HGTV finished fifth with 921,000 viewers. TLC (848,000 viewers), INSP (754,000), Discovery Channel (746,000), CNN (742,000) and History (740,000) rounded out the top 10 most-watched networks in primetime.
Fox News increased its winning streak on the total day charts to 21 weeks with an average of 1.4 million viewers, followed by ESPN (928,000), MSNBC (664,000), TNT (645,000) and CNN (548,000), according to Nielsen. ■
