The singing kids from Glee have made the next TV season very interesting. Without the protection of Idol, the show finished off its season with a very good number and looks to be a force to be reckoned with when it heads off on its own in the fall. Also scoring big this week was the NBA. ABC couldn’t have asked for a much better match-up than Lakers vs. Celtics. It’s made for some big ratings success in an otherwise down time of the year.
NBC - And then there’s hockey. One of my pet peeves is when people refer to hockey as America’s 4th major sport. It’s so not. If you’re in Detroit, sure. Hockeytown. Yay! For the vast majority of the country though, they don’t care the least bit about hockey, as the numbers show. This week NBC had Game 5 (5.85m/2.2) and Game 6 (8.28m/3.1) of the Stanley Cup.
Ignoring NFL, NBA, and MLB, there are still plenty of others that can lay claim to that 4th place title. A cursory glance through the numbers looking for prime time sporting events reveals opening round NCAA basketball games at over 10 million viewers, with the championship coming in at 23.94m/8.2. NCAA bowl games also outpace the NHL, like this year’s Fiesta Bowl (12.88m/4.3). And the actual BCS Co-Championship Game (30m/10.2) isn’t even close. Add to that the Olympics, the occasional NASCAR prime-time race (Fontana in 2009 – 10.21m/3.7), and possibly the US vs UK soccer match this weekend (no numbers yet – Update: 12.9m viewers). I don’t know if the NHL is sixth, or seventh, or eighth, but there’s a reason their TV deal is with VS.
Anyway … elsewhere on the NBC schedule, Last Comic Standing (5.04m/2) returned to modest numbers. Things were much better Tuesday as America’s Got Talent (13.09m/3.7) remained strong against tough competition. That 3.7 is third in the demo vs. Glee and the NBA. There is an audience in the summer if networks program for them. The rest of the week was pretty quiet with 100 Questions (2.19m/.7) and Friday Night Lights (3.92m/1.1).
ABC - There was a lot of mileage to be had from the NBA with Game 2 (15.72m/6.5), Game 3 (15.96m/6.7), and Game 4 (16.37m/6.6) coming in as the top three programs of the week. The Bachelorette (7.91m/2.6) was the best of the rest, with True Beauty (4.81m/1.8) and Happy Town (2.52m/.8) both continuing to slide.
FOX - The week was almost D.O.A. as it kicked off with (According To) Til Death (2.17m/.8) and Sons Of Tuscon (1.93m/.7). Things got marginally better on Monday with Lie To Me (6.06m/1.8) and The Good Guys (4.56m/1.4). Tuesday though, was the real highlight of the week. Hell’s Kitchen (6.96m/3.2) continues to motor along, but Glee (11.08m/4.7) really scored with the finale. Given the competition of AGT and the NBA, that bodes very well for next fall. So You Think You Can Dance wrapped up the week on Wednesday (8.15m/3) and Thursday (6.8m/2.6) with the final two shows before the competition really starts.
CBS - Barely putting in an effort, there were only two new hours of programming from the network last week. Flashpoint (6.72m/1.2) and Miami Medical (7.04m/1.4) continued their unremarkable run on Friday night.
CABLE - Lots of fun stuff on cable last week, but the thing that continues to amaze me is Pawn Stars (5.35m/2.1 – 5.29m/2.1). The show returned with two new episodes, and again bested most of the cable shows that get all the press. It even beat Burn Notice (5.67m/1.8) in the demo.
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Clacked by Brett Love 
on Jun 14, 2010 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
Hockey is the fourth major sport. Obviously not everyone cares but it still sits comfortably as the fourth major sports league in the US.
Hockey is a fourth rate “sport”.