By JERRY BARMASH
(@jerrybarmash)

The Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs are tangling in the NBA Finals on ABC. The Thursday opener won the week in the New York Nielsen ratings. Game 1 had an estimated 1.3 million Channel 7 viewers with a 6.8 rating.

Excitement under the backboard edged excitement from Broadway. The annual Tony Awards, broadcast by CBS was second best for the week. The Sunday night special tallied 1.1 million viewers and a 5.3 rating.

But it’s back to basketball in the Top 5.

Game 2 of the Finals scored at number four with 938,000 viewers and a 4.8 rating. TNT notched huge numbers for Game 7 of the Eastern Finals. The matchup ranked third for the week with 976,000 fans and a 5.0 rating.

After the sports and specials, 60 Minutes took the fifth spot (755,000/3.9).

NBC’s The Voice grabbed a pair of positions in the Top 10—sixth (658,000/3.4) and a tie for seventh (648,000/3.3).

Also getting high marks in the ratings report card, The Big Bang Theory, which tied for seventh place (656,000/3.3).

HBO’s mega hit Game of Thrones had 582,000 viewers and a 3.0 rating. It was joined at number 10 by Two and a Half Men (588,000/3.0).

A special prime time edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live before Game 1 of the NBA Finals tied for 19 (457,000/2.3).

WNYW made its first appearance in the Top 30 at number 26 with So You Think You Can Dance? (393,000/2.0).

The Fox 5 News at 10 continues notching one broadcast in the weekly survey. This time, the Steve Lacy/Dari Alexander newscast tied for 30 (366,000/1.9).

Photo: sportsmediajournal.com