ABC earned a 10.3 overnight rating for Spurs-Heat NBA Finals Game 3 last night from 9:00pm-12:00am, up 3% from a 10.0 overnight for the same matchup last year, which saw the Spurs win in a blowout, 113-77. The broadcast peaked at a 12.6 rating from 11:30-11:45pm. Compared to Heat-Thunder Game 3 in ’12, which aired on a Sunday night, last night’s telecast was down slightly from a 10.4 overnight. The broadcast last night marked the 40th consecutive time an NBA Finals game delivered ABC a win in primetime across all of TV. Game 3 earned a 40.5 local rating in San Antonio, while Miami-Ft. Lauderdale earned a 30.9 rating. Rounding out the top five were West Palm Beach (18.2), Austin (17.9) and Memphis (14.8) (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
BACK OFF, BOOGALOO: Heat F LeBron James has taken a lot of criticism on social media since missing the end of Game 1 after cramping, but ESPN's Jeff Van Gundy said, "We give too much credit to the 'Twitterazzi.' ... That he was much criticized by a bunch of knuckleheads out there in the Twitter universe -- who cares? It's absurd." Van Gundy: "We're supposed to validate the supposed criticism, and it makes no sense to me" ("NBA Finals Game 3," ABC, 6/10). ESPN's Jalen Rose said, "In this 24-hour news cycle ... fans that never had a voice are now on Twitter and on Facebook and on Instagram. That is what happened." He added, "The guy's too perfect. He's great on his commercials, you see him with his family, he's always saying the right thing. ... All of sudden he does 'The Decision,' and you want to hold that against him" ("NBA Countdown," ABC, 6/10).
