TNT and ESPN dominated the primetime basic-cable ratings for the second straight week on the strength of their NBA and NHL playoffs coverage.
TNT led all cable networks for the third-straight week with an average of 3.2 million viewers in primetime for the week of May 1-7, Nielsen said. The network was led by its May 2 coverage of Game 1 of the Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors second-round NBA playoff series, which averaged 7.3 million viewers.
ESPN finished second with 2.4 million viewers, followed by Fox News Channel, which averaged 1.4 million views for the week. MSNBC was fourth with 1.1 million, followed by HGTV’s 773,000 watchers.
Rounding out the top 10 most-watched networks in primetime were INSP (727,000 viewers), TBS (722,000), History (690,000), TLC (617,000) and USA Network (583,000).
Fox News won on a total-day basis the 17th straight week with an average of 1.1 million viewers, followed by ESPN (889,000 viewers), TNT (835,000), MSNBC (765,000), and CNN (473,000), Nielsen reported.
