18-49s were glued yet again to cable’s NBA playoff basketball during the week of May 18-24, as 5 total games on TNT and ESPN dominated delivery in the demo (Live+SD). 3 TNT telecasts averaged 4.33mln and 2 on ESPN averaged 4.66mln. WWE content on USA notched spots 6 and 7 with a 2.45mln avg, followed by more sports- and NBA- related content. 2 late-airing versions of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” averaged 2.14mln to take the 8 and 10 spots, buttressing in 9th TNT’s “Inside the NBA Playoffs” (2.19mln).

(Data provided by Nielsen)

05/18/2009-05/24/2009
TOTAL-05/18/2009
RANK TELECASTS EPISODE TITLE ORIG DAY(S) S TIME R DUR P18-49 P18-49 P18-49
Live+SD US AA% Live+SD US SHR Live+SD AA(000)
1 NBA PLAYOFFS-05/24/2009 CAVALIERS/MAGIC TNT ……S 8:36 PM 189 3.8 13 4988
2 NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF FNLS L-05/19/2009 NUGGETS/LAKERS ESPN .T….. 8:57 PM 178 3.6 10 4775
3 NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF FNLS L-05/21/2009 NUGGETS/LAKERS ESPN …T… 8:56 PM 180 3.4 11 4527
4 NBA PLAYOFFS-05/20/2009 MAGIC/CAVALIERS TNT ..W…. 8:36 PM 178 3.2 9 4199
5 NBA PLAYOFFS-05/22/2009 MAGIC/CAVALIERS TNT ….F.. 8:35 PM 186 2.9 11 3810
6 WWE ENTERTAINMENT-05/18/2009 WWE RAW USA M…… 10:00 PM 66 1.9 5 2541
7 WWE ENTERTAINMENT-05/18/2009 WWE RAW USA M…… 9:00 PM 60 1.8 5 2361
8 SPORTSCENTER LATE L-05/21/2009 ESPN …T… 11:56 PM 64 1.7 7 2209
9 INSIDE THE NBA PLAYOFFS-05/20/2009 TNT ..W…. 11:34 PM 36 1.7 6 2193
10 SPORTSCENTER LATE L-05/19/2009 ESPN .T….. 11:55 PM 65 1.6 6 2066

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