TV Ratings: NBC's Seahawks-49ers game crushes 'Sound of Music' on Sunday

NFL overrun boosts FOX to second for the night

By Daniel Fienberg Monday, Dec 24, 2012 11:58 AM

Seahawks QB Russell Wilson

Credit: AP

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Fast National ratings for Sunday, December 23, 2012.

A Sunday Night Football rout between the Seahawks and 49ers had no trouble crushing ABC's broadcast of the musical classic "The Sound of Music," nor the rest of the primetime competition, which included a football-boosted FOX.

Note that "The Sound of Music" was up by 1.5 million viewers and 22 percent among young viewers year-to-year. Draw your own conclusions.

For the night, NBC averaged a 4.6 rating among adults 18-49, tops in the key demographic. FOX was second with a 3.0 key demo rating, far ahead of ABC's 1.1 rating and the 0.9 key demo rating for CBS.

Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 13.67 million viewers to go with an 8.1 rating/14 share. FOX was second with a 4.5/8 and 7.71 million viewers, topping the 4.3/7 and 6.4 million viewers for CBS. ABC was fourth for Sunday primetime with a 3.2/6 and 5.23 million viewers.

7 p.m. - FOX's NFL overrun won the 7 p.m. hour with 13.16 million viewers and a 4.6 rating among adults 18-49. NBC's "Football Night in America" was second with 9.25 million viewers and a 2.9 key demo rating, topping the 8.77 million viewers and 1.3 key demo rating for CBS' "60 Minutes." The start of ABC's primetime-spanning "The Sound of Music" averaged 3.43 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating.

8 p.m. - Extended "Football Night in America" and the start of the Seahawks-49ers showdown drew 14.79 million viewers and a 4.8 rating among adults 18-49 to dominate the 8 p.m. hour for NBC. Far back in second with 6.27 million viewers and in fourth in the key demo with a 0.7 rating was CBS' repeat of "Blue Bloods." ABC's "Sound of Music" rose to 5.32 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating in its second hour. Football boosted two "Simpsons" repeats on FOX to 5.21 million viewers and a 2.2 key demo rating for second.

9 p.m. - The football game rose to 16.33 million viewers and a 5.4 rating among adults 18-49 to dominate the 9 p.m. hour for NBC. ABC's movie was second with 6.03 million viewers and third with a 1.3 key demo rating. CBS' repeat of "The Good Wife" was third overall with 5.03 million viewers and fourth with a 0.7 key demo rating. FOX's new episodes of "Family Guy" (5.39 million and a 2.5 key demo) and "American Dad" (4.14 million and a 1.9 key demo) were second in the demo and fourth overall.

10 p.m. - NBC closed primetime in first with 14.31 million viewers and a 5.2 rating among adults 18-49 for the football game, which ceased to be competitive early on. ABC's movie was up to 6.15 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating in its fourth hour. A repeat of "The Mentalist" drew 5.44 million viewers and did a 0.9 key demo rating for CBS.

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.

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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.