Lynn Elber, AP TV Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When the NBA playoffs hit the TV court, even the most popular shows find the competition intimidating.
The No. 1 program last week was the Golden State-Dallas Conference Finals game, in which the Warriors extended their winning streak to three-for-three. The first two games ranked in the top 10 programs, with playoff games overall in a quarter of the top 20, according to Nielsen data released Tuesday.
Viewers will have time to watch their favorite shows, including the CBS series The FBI, whose penultimate episode of the season was the most watched drama. The network canceled this week’s season finale because its plot about a student-linked gun cache was deemed too close to Tuesday’s massacres at a Texas elementary school.
CBS was the leading primetime television network, averaging 4.4 million viewers. ABC had 3.74 million viewers, NBC had 2.95 million, Fox had 2 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Ion Television had 950,000 and Telemundo had 800,000.
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Thanks to the basketball playoffs, TNT led the cable networks with an average of 2.78 million viewers. ESPN had 2.27 million, Fox News Channel had 2.26 million, MSNBC had 884,956,000 and HGTV had 927,000.
ABC’s World News Tonight won the evening news ratings race, averaging 7.4 million viewers. NBC Nightly News averaged 6.1 million viewers, while CBS Evening News averaged 4.5 million.
For the week of May 16-22, the top 20 primetime shows, their networks and viewership numbers are:
NBA Playoffs: Golden State Dallas (Sunday), TNT, 7.42 million
FBI, CBS, $7.15 million
“Young Sheldon”, CBS, 7.06 million
“Chicago Fire”, NBC, 6.79 million
NBA Playoffs: Dallas vs. Golden State (Friday), TNT, 6.77 million
NBA Playoffs: Dallas vs. Golden State (Wednesday), TNT, 6.52 million
NCIS, CBS, 6.51 million.
American Idol, ABC, 6.49 million.
60 Minutes, CBS, 6.28 million
“Chicago Med”, NBC, 6.24 million.
NBA Playoffs: Boston vs. Miami (Tuesday), ESPN, $6.07 million
NBA Playoffs: Boston vs. Miami (Thursday), ESPN, $6.05 million
FBI: International, CBS, 5.82 million.
The Revenant, CBS, 5.7 million
911, Fox, 5.56 million
Neighborhood, CBS, 5.5 million
Chicago P.D., NBC, 5.47 million.
FBI: Most Wanted, CBS, 5.46 million.
“Bob Hearts Abishola”, CBS, 5.33 million.
This Is Us, NBC, 5.32 million.
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