TV Ratings: Giants-Cowboys game draws big for NBC on Sunday
Football boosts FOX and CBS as well, as 'Once Upon a Time' slips again
Eli Manning of the New York Giants
Credit: AP
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A competitive do-or-die matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants drew big Sunday Night Football ratings for NBC, which dominated the evening in all key measures.
Football also gave early-evening bounces to FOX and particularly to CBS, rendering all of these numbers very likely to change.
Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 6.9 rating, far ahead of CBS' 3.2 rating in the key demographic. FOX was third with a 2.7 rating, while ABC's 1.8 rating trailed.
Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 18.64 million viewers in primetime along with an 11.3 rating/17 share. CBS was second with an 8.3/13 and 13.22 million viewers. FOX and ABC both posted a 3.5/5, but FOX's 5.99 million viewers edged out ABC's 5.92 million.
7 p.m. - CBS started primetime in first with 17.02 million viewers and a 4.5 rating among adults 18-49 for "60 Minutes," which was goosed by just over 40 minutes of NFL overrun for much of the country. NBC's "Football Night in America" was second with 9.85 million viewers and a 3.4 key demo rating. ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" repeat averaged 7.36 million viewers in third and a 1.6 key demo rating in fourth. FOX's NFL overrun and a repeat of "The Cleveland Show" averaged 6.74 million viewers and a 2.4 key demo rating.
8 p.m. - The start of NBC's football game averaged 20.45 million viewers and a 7.4 rating among adults 18-49 to dominate the 8 p.m. hour. CBS' "60 Minutes" and the "Amazing Race" finale averaged 13.68 million viewers and a 3.4 key demo rating in second. ABC's "One Upon a Time" suffered another week of declines, slipping to 8.91 million viewers and a 2.9 key demo rating. FOX was fourth with "The Simpsons" (6.45 million viewers and a 3.0 key demo) and "The Cleveland Show" (4.98 million viewers and a 2.3 key demo).
9 p.m. - The Giants and Cowboys improved to 23.25 million viewers and an 8.7 rating among adults 18-49 for NBC in the 9 p.m. hour. CBS' "Amazing Race" finale and "The Good Wife" averaged 11.14 million viewers for second and a 2.7 key demo rating for third. FOX was third overall and second in the key demo with "Family Guy" (6.05 million viewers and a 3.1 key demo) and "American Dad" (4.99 million and a 2.5 key demo). ABC's airing of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factor" averaged 3.735 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating in fourth.
10 p.m. - NBC's football averaged 21.02 million viewers and an 8.2 rating among adults 18-49 to close primetime strong. CBS was second with "The Good Wife" and "CSI: Miami," which averaged 11.05 million viewers and a 2.2 key demo rating. ABC's movie stumbled along with 3.67 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating.
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.
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.
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December 12, 2011 at 1:34PM EST Reply to CommentOnce Upon A Time probably suffered from holiday declines like ABC's Wednesday lineup did last week. Hopefully it will stabilize come January.
The Cowboys are always a big draw, for some reason. It doesn't matter if the team sucks, people will watch.
Can't comment on CBS since their lineup is so skewed by football overrun.
Fox is doing fine with modest 18-49 numbers and higher 18-34 numbers. It helps at 9 that Walking Dead is on hiatus so Family Guy won't have overlap to deal with until February.