TV Ratings: 'Once Upon a Time' holds, 'Allen Gregory' struggles and NBC's NFL rules Sunday
FOX gets big numbers for the 'Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror ep
Lana Parrilla and the side of Giancarlo Esposito's head on "Once Upon a Time"
Credit: ABC
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After two straight Sunday Night Football duds, NBC's coverage of the Cowboys/Eagles game bounced back in a major way and gave the network a big Sunday win in all key measures.
Meanwhile, ABC's "Once Upon a Time" held onto its full complement of young viewers (shedding a few older viewers) to solidify its position as one of the fall's new hits. The same cannot be said for FOX's "Allen Gregory," which lost a huge chunk of its healthy "Simpsons" lead-in and could be in trouble as soon as next week.
On to the numbers...
Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 6.7 rating for the night, far ahead of CBS' 3.7 rating in the key demographic. FOX's 2.7 rating was good for third, while ABC's 2.5 rating was fourth.
Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 16.77 million viewers in primetime along with a 10.1 rating/16 share. CBS got a big NFL overrun boost and averaged 14.52 million viewers and a 9.1/14 to finish a close second. ABC was well back in third with a 5.0/8 and 7.93 million viewers, beating FOX's 3.2/5 and 5.6 million.
7 p.m. - Boosted by nearly 30 minutes of NFL overrun for much of the country, CBS' football and "60 Minutes" averaged 23.53 million viewers and a 6.8 rating among adults 18-49 to rule the 7 p.m. hour. NBC's "Football Night in America" averaged 9.09 million viewers and a 3.4 key demo rating for second. ABC's repeat of the "Once Upon a Time" premiere was third overall with a 5.2 million viewers, beating FOX's 5.13 million for repeats of "The Cleveland Show" and "The Simpsons," but FOX had the advantage in the key demo.
8 p.m. - The start of the Philadelphia/Dallas showdown averaged 18.56 million viewers and a 7.2 rating among adults 18-49 to give NBC an easy 8 p.m. win. CBS' "60 Minutes" and "The Amazing Race" averaged 14.29 million viewers for the hour, along with a 3.5 key demo rating. ABC's "Once Upon a Time" lost over a million viewers to fall to 11.64 million, but the freshman drama equaled last week's key demo numbers with a 3.9 rating. FOX got great numbers for the annual "Simpsons" Halloween episode (8.01 million and a 4.0 key demo rating) and then watched "Allen Gregory" stumble to 4.735 million viewers and a 2.4 key demo rating.
9 p.m. - The football game rose to 21.26 million viewers and an 8.5 key demo rating for NBC in the 9 p.m. hour. CBS' "The Amazing Race" and "The Good Wife" collectively dropped to 10.12 million viewers and a 2.3 key demo rating. Third went to ABC with "Desperate Housewives," which continued to benefit from its solid lead-in with 9.28 million viewers and a 3.1 key demo rating. FOX was fourth with "Family Guy" (5.965 million and a 3.2 key demo rating) and "The Cleveland Show" (4.63 million viewers and a 2.3 key demo).
10 p.m. - NBC's football coverage wrapped up primetime with 18.16 million viewers and a 7.6 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' "The Good Wife" and "CSI: Miami" averaged 10.14 million viewers and a 2.0 key demo rating in second. That left ABC's "Pan Am" in third with 5.59 million viewers and a 1.9 key demo rating, down very slightly in viewers and up very slightly in the key demo from last week.
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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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupJedyKnight
October 31, 2011 at 12:32PM EST Reply to CommentI feel a little uncomfortable been part of the "Pan Am" death watch.. I mean, I’m ok if it doesn't get renewed, since is at most an average inoffensive show, but I like the characters enough that if it gets cancel before all the produced eps aired, I’m going to feel a little sad.
on other themes, Once Upon a Time keeps hanging up defying critics grim pronostications.. and the Good Wife, i believe is doing Ok enough in ratings (and as good as before in quality) to hope for a continued existence.
Toope
October 31, 2011 at 12:40PM EST Reply to CommentIt's a good thing the image shows that side of his head, you wouldn't want to see the other.
Stacy
October 31, 2011 at 12:50PM EST Reply to CommentWow, that’s petty impressive for Once Upon a Time…How many new shows don’t lose some young viewers in its second week?
October 31, 2011 at 1:15PM EST-Daniel
Paul
October 31, 2011 at 1:44PM EST Reply to CommentWhat amazes me is that the late football games on CBS always start at 4:15, which means that an average game won't be over until 7:15 or 7:30, and if it does then CBS will go to another game that hasn't finished yet. CBS KNOWS that "60 Minutes" won't start on time, yet they still allow all of their one-hour shows to be pushed off later into the night; those of us who like "CSI: Miami" are forced to stay up way past our bedtimes. Why doesn't CBS just start the games right at 4:00 like Fox does, and if there is a significant overrun (like more than 20 minutes) why can't they just drop one 18-minute segment of "60 Minutes" so they will stay close to their posted schedule? Its just very inconsiderate of CBS to post a schedule week after week that they know darn well they won't be able to keep.
October 31, 2011 at 5:19PM EST-Daniel
just me, hi !
November 2, 2011 at 3:21PM EST Reply to CommentPedantic point ( former academic writing ) , but it should be complement ( with an e ) in the 3d sentence. A compliment ( with an i ) is when you say something nice about me which you & I both know is not true !
I'll miss Pan Am, but the demo-graphic writing on the wall is too obvious : mene, mene, tekel, upharsin, Nielsen, cancellation.
Great column ! I enjoy reading it.
November 2, 2011 at 5:25PM EST-Daniel