NBC dominated last night’s ratings race behind an above-average result for “Sunday Night Football,” but Fox’s comedy block held up well and was bolstered by “Bob’s Burgers” in its new timeslot, while ABC’s “Revenge” benefited from a special “Once Upon a Time” lead-in to achieve a season high.
NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” matchup between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts averaged a 13.6 household rating/21 share in Nielsen’s metered-market overnights — up sharply from last week’s season low (11.1/18) and the second best result for the franchise in the last seven weeks. The game netted a 40.2/57 in Boston (the second best “SNF” overnight in the market) and a 37.1/54 in Indianapolis.
Sunday’s contest, won 42-20 by the visiting Patriots, averaged a 6.2 rating/16 share in adults 18-49 and 17.7 million viewers overall on NBC’s stations from 8:30 to 11 p.m., with the program’s average expected to rise about 10% from here in the nationals.
Fox had an earlier-than-usual end to its doubleheader NFL game, but “The Simpsons” (2.9/8 in 18-49, 6.6 million viewers overall) was in line with its score of last week and was again the night’s No. 1 broadcast entertainment series in 18-49. The net had good results the rest of the way too, with “Brooklyn Nine Nine” (2.2/5 in 18-49, 4.5 million viewers overall) and “Family Guy” (2.2/5 in 18-49, 4.4 million viewers overall) up multiple ticks week to week, and “Bob’s Burgers” (1.7/4 in 18-49, 3.3 million viewers overall) nearly doubling what “Mulaney” did last week in its final airing in the 9:30 p.m. timeslot (0.9).
At ABC, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (1.5/4 in 18-49, 6.7 million viewers overall) matched last week’s season high, leading into a two-hour “Once Upon a Time” (2.4/6 in 18-49, 6.6 million viewers overall), which was down a tick from its hourlong score of last week; its performance in the 9 o’clock hour (2.3 in 18-49) edged out the season premiere of “Resurrection” for the net’s top score in the timeslot this fall.
Closing out the night for ABC, “Revenge” (1.5/4 in 18-49, 5.2 million viewers overall) took advantage of its strongest lead-in of the fall to hit season highs (which will hold even if it’s adjusted down a tick in the nationals).
It was a fairly typical showing for CBS on a non-NFL doubleheader day, with “60 Minutes” (1.7/5 in 18-49, 12.5 million viewers overall) and “Madam Secretary” (1.5/4 in 18-49, 12.7 million viewers overall) both up a bit from last week (though a 15-minute football overrun in a handful of markets, including New York, could result in revisions in the nationals). “The Good Wife” was down a tick (1.3/3 in 18-49, 10.5 million viewers overall) and may have been impacted by tougher ABC competition in the hour, and “CSI” (1.3/4 in 18-49, 8.4 million viewers overall) was up a bit from its low of last week.
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: NBC, 5.1/13; Fox, 3.1/8; ABC, 1.9/5; CBS, 1.4/4; Univision, 1.0/3; Telemundo, 0.3/1.
In total viewers: NBC, 15.1 million; CBS, 11.0 million; Fox, 7.7 million; ABC, 6.3 million; Univision, 2.6 million; Telemundo, 0.8 million.
