Opening of NBA playoffs gives ratings win to ABC, ESPN

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Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) celebrates after making a layup at the buzzer to score and win Game 1 of an NBA basketball first-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets, Sunday, April 17, 2022, in Boston. The Celtics won 115-114. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

NEW YORK ā€“ The NBA playoffs have begun with no clear championship favorite, and that appears to be good news for ABC and ESPN.

The opening-round schedule of five games last weekend on the networks had more viewers than any playoff start since 2011, and its average of 4.17 million was up 32% over last year, the Nielsen company said.

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Leading the way was the instant classic between the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics, with 6.9 million viewers Sunday afternoon, making it the most-watched first round game since 2016, Nielsen said. Viewership peaked at 9.8 million when the Celtics hit a last-second layup to win 115-114.

Among the broadcast networks, CBS led the way last week with an average of 4.5 million viewers in prime time. ABC had 3.5 million, NBC had 3 million, Fox had 2.8 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 1 million and Telemundo had 800,000.

Fox News Channel led the cable networks with a prime-time average of 2.24 million viewers. TNT had 1.59 million, ESPN had 1.23 million, MSNBC had 1.16 million and HGTV had 977,000.

ABC's ā€œWorld News Tonightā€ led the evening news ratings with an average of 8 million viewers last week. NBC's ā€œNightly Newsā€ had 6.6 million and the ā€œCBS Evening Newsā€ had 4.6 million.

For the week of April 11-17, the top 20 most-watched prime-time programs, their networks and viewerships:

1. ā€œFBI,ā€ CBS, 7.39 million.

2. ā€œ60 Minutes,ā€ CBS, 7.12 million.

3. ā€œChicago Fire,ā€ NBC, 7.11 million.

4. ā€œYoung Sheldon," CBS, 6.85 million.

5. ā€œChicago Med,ā€ NBC, 6.77 million.

6. ā€œThe Equalizer,ā€ CBS, 6.64 million.

7. ā€œGhosts,ā€ CBS, 5.96 million.

8. ā€œChicago PD,ā€ NBC, 5.92 million.

9. ā€œFBI: International," CBS, 5.79 million.

10. ā€œNCIS: Los Angeles,ā€ CBS, 5.64 million.

11. ā€œFBI: Most Wanted,ā€ CBS, 5.43 million.

12. ā€œCMT Music Awards,ā€ CBS, 5.33 million.

13. ā€œAmerican Idolā€ (Monday), ABC, 5.31 million.

14. ā€œAmerican Idolā€ (Sunday), ABC, 5.27 million.

15. ā€œSurvivor,ā€ CBS, 5.08 million.

16. ā€œAmerica's Funniest Home Videos,ā€ ABC, 5.07 million.

17. ā€œ911,ā€ Fox, 5.06 million.

18. ā€œUnited States of Al,ā€ CBS, 4.91 million.

19. NBA Playoffs: Chicago at Milwaukee, Turner, 4.77 million.

20. ā€œLaw & Order: SVU,ā€ NBC, 4.74 million.


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