TV Ratings: ABC wins Sunday demos, CBS cruises overall

The telefilms 'Loving Leah' and 'The Last Templar' draw decent Sunday audiences

By Daniel Fienberg Monday, Jan 26, 2009 11:51 AM

Kathryn Morris of 'Cold Case'

Credit: Mitchell Haddad/CBS

Fast National ratings for Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009.

Overall, CBS' new programming may have dominated Sunday night, but ABC still managed to carry the evening in the key demographic.

ABC averaged a 3.3 rating in the 18-49 demo, comfortably topping the 2.3 rating for CBS, FOX's 2.2 rating and NBC's 2.1 rating. The CW's 0.3 rating didn't really register.

CBS averaged an estimated 12.72 million viewers overall to go along with an 8.3 rating/13 share. ABC was a distant second with a 5.7/9, while NBC was third with a 5.2/8. FOX finished fourth with a 2.9/4, beating the 0.5/1 for The CW.

At 7 p.m. CBS got an 8.9/15 for "60 Minutes." ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" was second with a 5.0/8. "Dateline NBC" was third, easily beating FOX's "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader." The CW's "Jericho" had a 0.4/1.

CBS stayed in first in the 8 p.m. hour with an 8.3/13 for "Cold Case." ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" was second with a 6.3/10, bettering the 5.1/8 for "Dateline NBC." FOX averaged a 3.1/5 for a new episode of "The Simpsons" and a "Simpsons" repeat. The CW's airing of "Anti-Trust" was fifth.

In the 9 p.m. hour, CBS got a 7.7/11 for the telefilm "Loving Leah," which won the frame in total viewers, but finished fourth in the 18-49 demo. ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" was a close second, holding off the NBC telefilm "The Last Templar." FOX's "Family Guy" and "America Dad" had a 3.5/5 for four, better than The CW's movie.

CBS' movie had an 8.2/13 in its second hour. NBC's "The Last Templar" was second with a 5.9/10. ABC's repeat of "Desperate Housewives" finished third.

All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.