• by Ken Liebeskind , June 12, 2002

Ratings for the NBA finals are down because the Lakers are blowing out the Nets, but the first three games and a tip off show led the way in this week's Nielsens, putting NBC ahead again. Games one and three were the top two rated shows, game two was rated fifth and the tip off show for game one was ranked eighth.

The numbers for the games weren't spectacular though, with game one earning a 17 share and 6.0 household with 16.2 million viewers. CSI, the third ranked show for CBS, had similar numbers, with a 15 share, 5.5 household and 14.9 million viewers.

The games boosted NBC's prime average which led the way with an 11 share/6.2 household, beating CBS (10/5.7), ABC (7/4) and Fox (6/3.1).

The other top 10 shows were Everybody Loves Raymond, Becker, 48 Hours and Yes, Dear (all CBS) and Spy TV (NBC). ABC and Fox were completely shut out of the top 25 this week.

Top cable shows for the week were the Winston Cup race (FX), King of Texas (TNT), Spongebob (NICK), a Memorial Day special (TLC) and WWE Entertainment (formerly WWF Entertainment, TNN). The Winston Cup scored a 3.5 household with 3.6 million households and 5.5 million viewers tuned in.

Syndicated leaders for the most recent week were Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Friends, the Oprah Winfrey Show and Seinfeld, with Wheel scoring an 8.2 household with 8.6 million households watching.

In other TV news, USA Networks is slashing its upfront prices by as much as 10 percent to increase market share. The move could hurt the other cable networks, which could lose out from USA's gains. But cable revenue is still expected to grow during the upfront, like broadcast did, with broadcast's gain not hindering cable.

ABC will retire Millionaire on June 27 with a 90 minute special. The show, a huge success that dominated ABC's prime time lineup until its slippage sent the network into a steep decline, will return as an occasional series of specials starting in November, after it starts in syndication.