Part 2 of NBC's special "Justin Bieber: All Around the World" fell even further from the poor showing of its first installment, while Game 5 of the NBA Finals gave ABC a predictable victory on Thursday night, according to preliminary numbers.
While ABC's ratings are approximate due to the nature of live sports, the network holds a commanding lead in both ratings, with a 5.3 rating/16 share in the advertiser-friendly 18-49 demographic, and total viewers, with 12.9 million.
The network swept the top three ratings spots with its basketball coverage, starting with "Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night" at 8, which drew a 2.4/9 and grabbed 6.7 million total viewers. The NBA pre-game show at 8:30 posted a 3.5/12 and received 8.6 million total viewers, while Game 5 of the NBA Finals at 9 took the night's highest ratings, rising to a 7.4/12 in the finals and drawing 15.5 million total viewers.
That's slightly down from last year's Game 5, which drew a 7.4/22 in the finals, but still enough to easily win the night in both the key demo and total viewers.
CBS, which ran repeats throughout the night, came in a distant second in ratings and total viewers with a 1.5/5 and 7 million total viewers.
Fox tied for third in ratings with Univision with an average 1.3/4 and took third place in total viewers with 3.6 million total viewers. "Take Me Out" at 8 saw a modest ratings increase over last week, posting a 1.2/4, and grew 19 percent in total viewers with 3.1 million. "The Choice" the following hour dropped slightly from last week in the ratings for a 1.5/5, but also climbed in total viewers, receiving a 17 percent increase for 4.2 million.
NBC came in fifth in ratings and fourth in total viewers, drawing a 0.7/2 and 3.2 million. The second part of "Justin Bieber: All Around the World" dropped off from Wednesday night's initial installment (which, granted did not face competition from the NBA Finals), receiving a 0.8/3 in the ratings and drawing 3.1 million total viewers.
"Saving Hope" the following hour plunged 29 percent from last week's airing for 0.5/2 and drew 2.6 million total viewers. "Rock Center With Brian Williams" at 10 drew even with last week, posting a 0.8/2 and taking 3.8 million total viewers.
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