TV ratings: NBA Finals dominates Thursday, 'Saving Hope' rises a little

Fast National ratings for Thursday, June 14, 2012

The Miami Heat evened their NBA Finals series with the Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday night and delivered a big ratings win for ABC.

The game's ratings were up slightly from Tuesday's series opener, and it led the adults 18-49 demographic by a huge margin. Elsewhere, NBC's summer drama "Saving Hope" was also up in viewers (a bigger lead-in didn't hurt), but FOX's dating shows "Take Me Out" and "The Choice" both fell from last week's numbers.

ABC averaged 11.3 million viewers and a 7.1 rating/12 share in households in the fast nationals -- numbers that will rise some when adjusted for the live NBA coverage. CBS (7 million, 4.6/8) came in second, a good distance ahead of NBC (4.6 million, 3.0/5). FOX took fourth with 3.1 million viewers and a 2.0/3. The CW trailed with 670,000 viewers and a 0.5/1.

ABC's 4.7 rating among adults 18-49 beat the combined total of the other four networks. CBS was the best of the rest with a 1.5, followed by FOX at 1.3 and NBC at 1.0. The CW managed only a 0.2.

Thursday hour by hour:

8 p.m.

CBS: "The Big Bang Theory" rerun (7.8 million viewers, 5.2/10 households)/"2 Broke Girls" rerun (6.2 million, 4.1/7)
ABC: "Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night" (6.1 million, 4.0/7)/"NBA Countdown" (7.7 million, 4.9/9)
NBC: "America's Got Talent" rerun (5.9 million, 3.7/7)
FOX: "Take Me Out" (2.6 million, 1.7/3)
The CW: "Breaking Pointe" (873,000, 0.6/1)

18-49 leader: "NBA Countdown" (3.1)

9 p.m.

ABC: NBA Finals Game 2 - Heat/Thunder (12.4 million, 7.9/13)
CBS: "Person of Interest" rerun (6.9 million, 4.5/8)
NBC: "Saving Hope" (4 million, 2.6/4)
FOX: "The Choice" (3.6 million, 2.3/4)
The CW: "The Vampire Diaries" rerun (467,000, 0.3/1)

18-49 leader: NBA Finals (5.2)

10 p.m.

ABC: NBA Finals Game 2 (14.7 million, 9.1/15)
CBS: "The Mentalist" rerun (7.1 million, 4.6/8)
NBC: "Rock Center with Brian Williams" (4 million, 2.8/5)

18-49 leader: NBA Finals (6.4)

Ratings information includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change. Source: The Nielsen Company.

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