Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

NBA Finals, Jan. 6 hearing lead ABC to ratings win

ABC took home the crown as television's top-rated network last week behind two games of the NBA Finals series between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics

Via AP news wire
Tuesday 14 June 2022 22:53 BST
Capitol Riot Investigation
Capitol Riot Investigation (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

ABC was the top-rated television network last week largely behind the NBA Finals, and its news division won bragging rights for the first prime-time hearing of the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The 5.2 million people who watched the hearing on ABC was more than any other network, and a quarter of its total audience, the Nielsen company said.

The Tony Awards reached 4.22 million viewers on Sunday, a bounce-back for Broadway after last year's show in September was seen by 2.75 million people. Last year theater was just returning from its pandemic pause.

The two games of the Golden State-Boston NBA Finals series last week both exceeded 10 million viewers, Nielsen said.

For the week, ABC averaged 4.1 million viewers in prime time. CBS had 3.3 million, NBC had 2.7 million, Fox had 1.4 million, Univision had 1.1 million, Ion Television had 1 million and Telemundo had 880,000.

Fox News Channel led the cable networks, averaging 2.23 million viewers in prime time. ESPN had 1.7 million, MSNBC had 1.39 million, HGTV had 985,000 and CNN had 829,000.

ABC's “World News Tonight” won the evening news ratings race with an average of 7 million viewers. NBC's “Nightly News” had 6 million and the “CBS Evening News” averaged 4.4 million.

For the week of June 6-12, the top 20 programs, their networks and viewerships:

1. NBA Finals: Golden State at Boston (Friday), ABC, 12.06 million.

2. NBA Finals: Golden State at Boston (Wednesday), ABC, 11.52 million.

3. “America's Got Talent,” NBC, 6.37 million.

4. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 5.42 million.

5. Jan. 6 Committee Hearing, ABC, 5.22 million.

6. Jan. 6 Committee Hearing (9-10 p.m.), MSNBC, 4.42 million.

7. “Tony Awards,” CBS, 4.22 million.

8. Jan. 6 Committee Hearing (8-9 p.m.), MSNBC, 4.19 million.

9. “FBI: Most Wanted,” CBS, 4.16 million.

10. “FBI,” CBS, 4.14 million.

11. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 3.88 million.

12. “FBI: International,” CBS, 3.83 million.

13. “America's Funniest Home Videos,” ABC, 3.74 million.

14. “NBA Countdown” (Friday), ABC, 3.701 million.

15. Jan. 6 Committee Hearing, NBC, 3.696 million.

16. “The Price is Right,” CBS, 3.687 million.

17. “NCIS,” CBS, 3.58 million.

18. “NBA Countdown” (Wednesday), ABC, 3.53 million.

19. Jan. 6 Committee Hearing, CBS, 3.49 million.

20. “Let's Make a Deal,” CBS, 3.49 million.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in