ABC took an easy overall win with Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night, while NBC felt a pinch from the competition as "American Ninja Warrior" and "America's Got Talent" both dipped, according to preliminary numbers.
ABC came in first place by far in both ratings and total viewers, scoring a 4.6 rating/13 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and raking in 11 million total viewers. "Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night" at 8 p.m. ran even with last year's presentation, drawing a 2.2/7 with 6.3 million total viewers. "NBA Countdown" at 8:30 was also flat with last year, posting a 2.8/8 with 7 million total viewers. Game 1 of the NBA Finals, which ran from 9 to 11, inched up marginally from last year's Game 1, receiving a 5.6/15. It had 13.2 million total viewers, and was the night's highest-rated program, with the biggest total audience.
NBC tied Fox for second place in ratings with a 2.1/6 and grabbed third place in total viewers with 6.9 million. Most of its primetime roster declined against basketball programming, starting with "American Ninja Warrior" at 8, which dropped 27 percent from last Monday's telecast for a 1.6/5 -- the show's lowest rating to date. It received 4.9 million total viewers. "America's Got Talent" the following hour dropped 14 percent from last week for a 3.0/8, the second-highest rating of the night. It pulled in 10.8 million total viewers, for the evening's second-largest audience. "Love in the Wild" at 10 was flat with last week's premiere, posting a 1.6/4 with 5 million total viewers.
Fox took fourth place in total viewers. Its Gordon Ramsay-driven roster held mostly steady, starting with "Hell's Kitchen" at 8, which ran even in ratings from last week with a 2.1/7 and inched up in total viewers with 5.3 million. "MasterChef" the following hour took a slight demo hit, receiving a 2.1/6, but also increased slightly in total viewers with 4.9 million.
CBS, which ran repeats throughout the night, came in fourth in ratings and second in total viewers with a 1.2/3 and 7.2 million.