Nellie Andreeva

The NBA Finals took an unexpected dip in the ratings last night. (Maybe some had written the Los Angeles Lakers off after the previous 2 games? Not us here in LA.) Last night’s Game 6, which saw the Lakers rebound to force a Game 7 with the Boston Celtics, scored a 12.3 overnight rating. That was a towering performance that dominated the night in every category but was down 5% from Sunday’s Game 5 (12.8 overnight rating). So far, the series had steadily built in the ratings with every game. Still, this year’s Finals are on track to finish as the highest-rated in at least six years.

Because of President Obama’s address at 8PM EDT, the fast nationals for some shows are skewed.  That includes Fox’s two-hour Hell’s Kitchen, which aired following the 15-minute address. The preliminary Nielsen estimates have it drawing a 2.8 rating/8 share from 8:30PM-10:30PM, but that number is expected to rise when the time is adjusted in the finals. That means that Hell’s Kitchen may tie or even outrate America’s Got Talent. Airing at 9PM and not affected by the Presidential speech, the NBC talent competition averaged a 2.9/8, down 22% from last week. CBS aired an all-repeat lineup.

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