Ratings Analysis: Though the Boston Celtics beat out the Golden State Warriors in game one of the 'NBA Finals (3.63), it was ABC that took the win in the Nielsen department. This rating was over 25% higher than the first game of 2021 (2.86) and led the alphabet network to a clean victory. 'Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night' (0.55) and 'NBA Countdown' (0.85) were on the softer side in the 8PM hour but still trounced all non-ABC broadcasts. Over on the Fox network, the 8'o clock episode of 'MasterChef Junior' (0.40, +0.09) improved a good bit from the week prior but the 9PM one (0.33, -0.07) was on the lower-end. NBC chugged along with reruns of 'Law & Order' (0.32), 'Law & Order: SVU' (0.34), and 'Law & Order: Organized Crime' (0.29). CBS went with encores of 'Young Sheldon' (0.34), 'United States of Al' (0.29), 'Ghosts' (0.28), and 'B Positive' (0.23). At 10, a special about Queen Elizabeth II entitled 'Her Majesty the Queen' (0.21) attracted even less interest than the sitcom repeats in the key demo. On the CW, 'Walker' (0.07, -0.03) and 'Legacies' (0.07, -0.01) both declined in their returns and posted matching ratings.
Finals Update: 'NBA Finals Game 1' (+1.0) and the 8 PM episode of 'MasterChef Junior' (+0.1) adjusted up. 'Jimmy Kimmel Live Game Night' (-0.5) and 'NBA Countdown' (-0.1) adjusted down.
(R) = repeat
