Primetime Ratings: ‘Sunday Night Football’ Way Up on NBC

NBC seized the Sunday ratings title, as football led the net to a 4.8 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 21 share. That topped the 2.4/10 that Fox posted.

Football Night in America lost 5% for a 2.0 on NBC but the pre-game shot up 40% to 4.9. The game, Cowboys versus Eagles, posted a 5.8, a 49% gain over Steelers versus Chargers last Sunday.

Fox had Saints versus Bears leading into prime, and The OT at 4.0. Football spelled a big boost for the comedies. The Simpsons got a 2.1 and Bless the Harts a 1.1 (They did a 0.8 and 0.6 last week.) Bob’s Burgers grew 57% to 1.1 and Family Guy went up 33% to 1.2.

ABC and CBS both rated a 0.6/3. On ABC, America’s Funniest Home Videos did a flat 0.7 and Kids Say the Darndest Things slid 14% to 0.6. Shark Tank and The Rookie both scored a 0.6, Shark Tank down a tenth and Rookie flat.

On CBS, 60 Minutes rated a 0.8 (with a football lead-in last week, it scored a 2.1) and God Friended Me lost 33% for a 0.6. NCIS: Los Angeles had a 0.7 and Madam Secretary a 0.4, both losing a tenth.

Telemundo and Univision both rated a 0.3/1. Three hours of Exatlon Estados Unidos averaged a 0.4 on Telemundo and El Secreto de Selena did a 0.3, both series flat.

On Univision it was 0.3s for Aqui y Ahora, Reina de la Cancion and Cronicas, all three level with last week.

The CW scored a 0.2/1. Batwoman got a flat 0.3 and Supergirl lost 33% for a 0.2. 

Michael Malone

Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.