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Local Nielsen ratings snapshot (Fri.-Sun., June 4-6) -- NBA puts NHL on ice

By ED BARK
Game 2 of the NBA Finals and Game 5 of the NHL's Stanley Cup closer went head to head Sunday night.

It was the biggest sports mismatch in these parts since Robin Ventura rushed the mound to take a whipping from Nolan Ryan.

The Boston Celtics' win over the Los Angeles Lakers on ABC averaged 393,605 D-FW viewers, peaking at a very impressive 644,699 in the final 15 minutes.

Over on NBC, the Chicago Blackhawks out-skated the Philadelphia Flyers to a near empty house. An average of 47,504 viewers partook, with a peak crowd of 61,077 between 8 and 8:30 p.m. That's cold.

Among advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds, the NBA Finals hit a high of 335,945 viewers from 9:45 to 10 p.m. The Stanley Cup peaked at 39,139 viewers in this key demographic.

Saturday's coverage of the Belmont Stakes on ABC averaged just 67,863 total viewers with the winners of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness both absent. The Texas Rangers drew a better overall crowd on Fox, with their Saturday afternoon win over the Tampa Bay Rays drawing 95,008 viewers.

TXA21's Friday night Rangers game of the week, also a win over Tampa Bay, likewise had 95,008 viewers. But NBC's two-hour Dateline led all Saturday night programming with 156,085 viewers while the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee on ABC was of interest to just 40,718 viewers.

In Friday's local news derby results, WFAA8 ran the table at 10 p.m. with wins in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming.

NBC5 nipped WFAA8 at 6 a.m. in total viewers and edged Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.

CBS11 won at 6 p.m. in total viewers but fell to third in the 25-to-54 demographic behind first-place Fox4 and runnerup WFAA8.

WFAA8 took both golds at 5 p.m.
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