TV Ratings: Bears rout paces NBC Sunday win, as 'X Factor' and 'Pan Am' dip

NBC still controls the night, but FOX is a close second

By Daniel FienbergMonday, Oct 17, 2011 11:53 AM

Matt Forte of the Chicago Bears

Credit: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

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Fast National ratings for Sunday, October 16, 2011.

Even though a Sunday Night Football rout between Chicago and Minnesota delivered fairly low numbers for NBC, they were still enough to give the network comfortable wins for the night. NBC's steepest competition came from football-boosted FOX, which also go lower-than-normal (but still OK) numbers from a rescheduled Sunday "X Factor."

In other Sunday highlights, CBS only had limited football interruptions in certain markets, yielding the network's most accurate (relatively speaking) Sunday numbers to day, while ABC may have to make a tough choice on the struggling "Pan Am" fairly soon.

On the the numbers...

Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 4.8 rating for the night, edging out FOX's 4.4 rating in the key demographic. CBS was a distant third with a 2.2 rating, followed closely by ABC's 2.0 rating.

Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 12.315 million viewers for the night to go with a 7.6 rating/12 share, way off the network's Sunday season average. FOX's 6.9/11 and 11.61 million viewers finished a close second. CBS was a solid third with a 6.5/10 and 10.20 million viewers. ABC was well back in fourth with a 4.3/7 and 6.915 million viewers.

[Univision averaged 2.775 million viewers in primetime along with a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49.]

7 p.m. - FOX's NFL overrun and postgame coverage led the 7 p.m. hour with 17.55 million viewers and a 6.7 key demo rating. CBS was second overall with nearly 11 million viewers for "60 Minutes" (and those few NFL overrun markets), but third with a 1.9 key demo rating. NBC's NFL pregame was third overall with 6.72 million viewers and second with a 2.4 key demo rating. ABC was fourth with the 6.43 million viewers and 1.5 key demo rating for ABC.

8 p.m. - NBC's Bears-Vikings coverage took over the 8 p.m. lead with 14.41 million viewers and a 5.3 key demo rating. CBS' "The Amazing Race" was second overall with 9.26 million viewers and third with a 2.5 rating among adults 18-49. FOX was third with 8.74 million viewers for "The X Factor," though the talent show picked up a second-place 3.4 key demo rating. ABC stayed fourth with the 7.1 million viewers and 1.9 key demo rating for "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

9 p.m. - NBC's football stayed in first for the 9 p.m. hour with 15.53 million viewers and a 6.1 rating among adults 18-49. CBS was second with 10.04 million viewers and fourth with a 2.1 key demo rating for "The Good Wife." FOX's "The X Factor" was third with 8.555 million viewers and second with a 3.3 key demo rating. That kept ABC in fourth overall with 8.24 million viewers for "Desperate Housewives," which was second with a 2.7 key demo rating.

10 p.m. - Sunday Night Football closed with 12.605 million viewers and a 5.3 key demo rating for NBC in the 10 p.m. hour. CBS' "CSI: Miami" averaged 10.51 million viewers and a 2.4 key demo rating for third. ABC's "Pan Am" slipped to 5.89 million viewers and a 1.8 rating among adults 18-49.

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

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.

JedyKnight

The Good Wife seems to be doing Ok numbers.. or what I hope is considered Ok, since is still maintaining last year's quality and will like to see it renewed..
what I don’t get is why Desperate Housewives is beating it on the demo.. TGW is a newer, flashier show, with a more broad appeal.. while DH, which I watched quite a few seasons of, hasn’t aged well, and is primarily female skewing.. Dan, do you think Football takes more from TGW than from DH ?

October 17, 2011 at 12:39PM EST Reply to Comment
- JedyKnight - "The Good Wife" just isn't a show that does well with young viewers, despite its "buzz" and its sex appeal. That's why CBS had to move it from Tuesdays, where it was squandering too much of the demo lead-in from "NCIS: LA." So no, I don't think football is taking away from Good Wife that notably. I just think that's what Good Wife does. But on Sunday, CBS can probably afford to be more patient with it, since obviously the network wants/needs "Good Wife" to survive, if not succeed...
  
  -Daniel
  October 17, 2011 at 12:55PM EST