• by Adam Bernard , June 20, 2001

Last week, the NBA finals grabbed the top two slots in the household ratings according to Nielsen Media Research, helping NBC earn a victory for the week. Also in the week's prime-time Top 10 were two editions of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" on ABC and fellow quiz show "Weakest Link" on NBC.

For the week, NBC averaged 9.8 million viewers (6.5 rating and 12 share), while CBS had 8.3 million viewers (6.1 rating, 11 share) and ABC had 7.8 million viewers (5.5 rating, 10 share). Fox had 5.0 million (3.3 rating, 6 share), UPN had 2.8 million viewers (1.9 rating, 3 share), the WB had 2.4 million viewers (1.7 rating, 3 share), and Pax TV had 1.4 million viewers (1.0 rating, 2 share).

In the battle for supremacy of the evening newscasts, "NBC Nightly News" came out on top last, edging ahead of ABC in viewers, with 8.86 million to ABC's 8.22 million. "The CBS Evening News," which found its way to No. 1 last week, was back in third.

"Nightly News" led with a 6.5 rating and 15 share, while ABC's "World News Tonight" had a 6.3 rating and 14 share. "CBS Evening News" had a 5.7 rating and 13 share.

For the week of June 11-17, the top shows, their networks and household ratings: "NBA Finals Game 4 (LA Lakers at Philadelphia)," NBC, 12.6; "NBA Finals Game 5 (LA Lakers at Philadelphia)," NBC, 11.2; "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (Tuesday), ABC, 10.1; "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (Thursday), ABC, 9.8; "PrimeTime Thursday," ABC, 9.7; "NBA Finals Tip-off, Game 4 (LA Lakers at Philadelphia)," NBC, 9.6; "Weakest Link," NBC, 9.3; "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 8.9; "20/20 Friday," ABC, 8.0; tie: "Becker," CBS, and "CSI," CBS, both 7.5.