NBA Finals: Game 3 Lacks Sizzle For 18-49s

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The saga of whether the superstar-laden Miami Heat can win a championship didn't quite have the appeal Sunday as last year's Boston-Los Angeles final. In the key 18-to-49 demo, ratings for game three of the NBA Finals were down 9% compared to the third game a year ago.

Total viewers fell 5% to 15.2 million.

Last year's game three was on a Tuesday and didn't face competition from the "MTV Music Awards," which may have hurt the ratings Sunday.

The awards show, with Justin Bieber and Reese Witherspoon, among others, averaged 4.5 million viewers and a 3.9 in the adult 18-to-34 demo.

NBA ratings have been strong largely because of interest in Miami star LeBron James' quest for a title, so it is surprising that last year's final has outrated it for the second game in a row. The large Los Angeles market last year may have helped and there is considerable history in Boston challenging the Lakers.

Through three games this year, the ratings have been essentially flat with a combined 18-to-49 average of 6.3.

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