Game 3 between the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers on ABC Tuesday night got only a 6.4 national Nielsen rating, an 11 share and an average viewing audience of 9.5 million.

The series' first three games averaged a 6.1/11 and 9.1 million viewers. The all-time low rating for an NBA Finals, a 6.2, came in 2003, when the Spurs beat the New Jersey Nets in six games.

Game 2 of the Spurs-Cavaliers series Sunday night got a 5.6 rating with 8.6 million viewers and got trumped by HBO's finale of "The Sopranos" that drew 11.9 million viewers, despite being on a pay-cable network that reaches only 30 million homes.

One problem for the NBA is that two of the first three games of the Finals lacked drama. Also, neither team is from a major TV market and the series' marquee player, LeBron James, has been a disappointment.

And, as NBA Commissioner David Stern said during halftime Tuesday night, the ratings "were a sign of changing media times."

In an interview in his New York office not long ago, Stern talked about the changing media climate. "I think we're getting ready to eliminate the word broadcast from partners because our media partners have an appetite for a broader array of assets than what we historically think about," he said.