TV Ratings: NBC's Giants-Cowboys game draws giant ratings on Sunday

NFL overrun puts CBS in second for the night

By Daniel Fienberg Monday, Jan 2, 2012 12:17 PM

Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw

Credit: AP

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Fast National ratings for Sunday, January 1, 2012.

NBC is the television ratings king of 2012.

The perpetually struggling network started the new year in dominant form with a rivalry-tinged Sunday Night Football game between the Giants and Cowboys, a showdown that just happened to have playoff implications to boot.

Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 7.0 rating for Sunday night, far ahead of second place CBS' football-boosted 2.3 rating. FOX's 1.6 rating and the 1.1 rating for ABC followed in the key demographic.

Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 20.18 million viewers and an 11.5 rating/18 share, far ahead of CBS' 6.6 rating/11 share and 10.78 million viewers. FOX averaged 3.90 million viewers and a 2.3/4 for third, just ahead of ABC's 3.80 million viewers for Sunday night primetime.

7 p.m. - NFL overrun and "60 Minutes" averaged 20.42 million viewers and a 5.3 rating among adults 18-49 for CBS in the 7 p.m. hour. NBC's "Football Night in America" was second for the hour with 9.57 million viewers and a 3.1 key demo rating. FOX's NFL postgame was third with 5.22 million viewers and a 1.8 key demo rating, beating the 3.35 million viewers and 0.8 key demo rating for ABC's "Once Upon a Time" repeat.

8 p.m. - The start of the Dallas-New York football game pushed NBC into first for the 8 p.m. hour with 22.33 million viewers and a 7.6 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' "60 Minutes" and a repeat of "Unforgettable" averaged 10.01 million viewers and a 1.9 key demo rating for second. Another "Once Upon a Time" repeat averaged 4.12 million viewers for third overall and a 1.1 key demo rating for fourth. On FOX, repeats of "The Simpsons" and "The Cleveland Show" averaged 3.22 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating.

9 p.m. - The Cowboys and Giants went up to 25.62 million viewers and an 8.9 key demo rating for NBC in the 9 p.m. hour. CBS' repeats of "Unforgettable" and "The Good Wife" averaged 6.55 million viewers and a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49. Yet another repeat of "Once Upon a Time" drew 3.93 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating for ABC, while repeats of "Family Guy" and "American Dad" averaged 3.27 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating.

10 p.m. - NBC's football game closed Sunday primetime with 23.19 million viewers and an 8.6 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' "The Good Wife" and "CSI: Miami" repeats averaged 6.12 million viewers for second and a 1.1 key demo rating for third. ABC capped its "Once Upon a Time" marathon with 3.80 million viewers and a 1.2 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.

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.