ABC – Three NBA games (15.34m/6.1 – 16.13m/6.7 – 18.32m/7.4) made for an easy win for the week, and dragged along the puzzling Jimmy Kimmel pregame shows (3.51m/1.1 – 3.83m/1.3). I mean, really, if 13 million people are waiting for Jimmy to go away before tuning in, it might be worth trying something else. The other originals were The Bachelorette (8.13m/2.6), Extreme Makeover Weight Loss (5.66m/2.2), and Food Revolution (2.59m/.8). It’s worth noting that The Bachelorette has started to grow, as we’ve come to expect over the course of a season.
NBC - The big highlights came from America’s Got Talent (12.93m/3.7 – 12.64m/3.7) and The Voice (12.31m/4.6), which are both pulling down very good summer numbers. Completely opposite of those we find Love Bites (2.37m/1) and another NHL Finals game (4.35m/1.6). Just one NHL game, as the other was shuffled off to VS (2.7m/1.1).
FOX - Master Chef (4.4m/1.8 – 4.58m/1.9) isn’t setting the world on fire, but at least it’s something new. So You Think You Can Dance (7.28m/2.8 – 7.13m/2.5) looks much better in comparison, and is right around the expected numbers.
CBS - The entirety of the CBS week came down to a Friday Flashpoint (5.9m/1) and a Saturday Chaos (3.23m/.5).
CABLE – Things were a little more exciting over on cable with a bunch of interesting premieres. USA kicked off new seasons for White Collar (3.9m/1.2) and Covert Affairs (4.56m/1.2). Both were slightly off their pace, but were also facing unusually good network competition. Over on A&E we found the premiere of the second season for The Glades (3.01m/.9). That is an improvement over where the show left off with season one. And perhaps the most interesting premiere came from Switched At Birth (3.3m/1.3) on ABC Family. That’s a good starting number, putting the show in the same ballpark as the Pretty Little Liars finale.
Basic
Premium
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Jun 13, 2011 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
The NBA Finals had a good-vs-evil storyline more compelling than anything else on TV last week. ;)
*POST AUTHOR*
I would disagree with you on a couple of points there. For the NBA, I think the involvement of Marc Cuban might have made it a lesser-of-two-evils storyline for many. And the most compelling thing on TV last week was actually the Women’s College World Series. :D
This was pretty much the only scenario in which I would be rooting for Cuban’s team to win. At least he stayed out of the spotlight. But forget him – when you look at true professionals like Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki earning their first championship after so many years in the league, and contrast that with Miami, it really feels like good vs evil. Of course, this is coming from a pissed off Bulls fan, who just wants the Heat to suffer. :) Women’s College World Series, huh?
*POST AUTHOR*
Yes. The Women’s College World Series is always the best sporting event of the year.
Okay… well, at this point I have nothing left but the Cubbies (yeah, it’s going to be a long summer).
*POST AUTHOR*
Actually… The Chicago Bandits just kicked off their season over the weekend. You should totally go check out a game!
Never really knew you were a Cuban hater.
He made a fan of me last night.
*POST AUTHOR*
I’m actually not a Cuban hater, but I realize that there are many of them. If you really want to get into it, I’m actually an NBA hater. But the fact that Cuban is one of two owners who didn’t vote to sell my city down the river makes me kind of fond of the guy.
I never understood the hate. He’s an opinionated individual to be sure, but, as last night proved, he’s is a class act.
Boy just wants to have fun…
I stopped hating him after his team kept choking in the playoffs. It felt pathetic at that point. But I think the hate comes from the fact that 1) he’s such a demonstrative, visible owner; 2) being super rich, he initially seemed like he wanted to buy a championship… which is kind of what every owner wants to do, right? But it’s the same reason many of us hate the Yankees – because they can buy success. In Cuban’s case, it wasn’t that easy. It’s not like the free agents were flocking to Dallas, even though Cuban would have treated them like kings – last summer, Lebron didn’t give him the time of day. But Cubester got the last laugh. :)