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Closer Scores; NBA Finals Don't

Tue., Jun. 19, 2007 5:16 PM PDT by Marcus Errico

Bob Barker went out in style. The Cleveland Cavaliers didn't. And Kyra Sedgwick proved to be must-see TV.

The third season of the actress' TNT series The Closer debuted to 8.8 million viewers on Monday, a record for a series airing on basic cable, according to Nielsen Media Research. It also helped pull in 4.3 million for the premiere of the new drama Heartland, starring Treat Williams and Kari Matchett. (Both shows' ratings will be included in next week's Nielsen list.)

In general, cable picked up the slack from the broadcast network big boys, whose summer doldrums are in full effect. Only two programs surpassed 10 million viewers last week—NBC's America's Got Talent (11.8 million) and Fox's So You Think You Can Dance results show (10.6 million). Fox's other reality hit, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, just missed with 9.97 million.

Barker provided a couple of the week's scant other highlights as CBS' prime-time airing of his final Price Is Right drew 8.4 million Friday night, followed by his two-trophy coronation on the Daytime Emmy Award telecast, which attracted 8.3 million.

Then there were the NBA Finals. Only 9.9 million bothered to watch the San Antonio Spurs sweep away the Cavaliers in Game 4—and that was the good news. Overall, the NBA Finals averaged just 9.2 million viewers over the four-game series, easily slinking past the previous all-time low of 9.9 million in 2003, when the Spurs spanked the New Jersey Nets.

Despite the record-low numbers, the NBA had a better week than Mark Burnett. The reality TV golden boy is losing a little luster this summer as his two new shows continue to shed viewers. CBS' Pirate Master had just 5.4 million viewers last week, while Fox's On the Lot, his ballyhooed his collaboration with Steven Spielberg, is down to 2.8 million viewers.

By comparison, the History Channel's Sunday-night debut of Ice Road Truckers, about drivers who risk their lives hauling stuff around the Arctic, scored 3.4 million.

Other cable ratings-grabbers included Lifetime's Army Wives (3.8 million), USA's The Starter Wife (3.6 million) and the debut of Bravo's Top Chef 3: Miami (2 million).

CBS finished as the most watched network, with an average of 7.3 million, followed by NBC (6.5 million), Fox (5.7 million), ABC (3.4 million) and the CW (1.9 million). However, Fox beat its rivals when it came to the 18-to-49 demo.

Here's recap of the most watched prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, per Nielsen Media Research:

1. America's Got Talent, NBC, 11.82 million viewers
2. So You Think You Can Dance (Thursday), Fox, 10.64 million viewers
3. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, Fox, 9.97 million viewers
4. NBA Finals Game 4, ABC, 9.91 million viewers
5. NCIS, CBS, 9.79 million viewers
6. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 9.63 million viewers
7. NBA Finals Game 3, ABC, 9.49 million viewers
8. Two and a Half Men, CBS, 9.38 million viewers
9. CSI: Miami, CBS, 9.28 million viewers
10. Cold Case, CBS, 9.03 million viewers