NBC won the night as usual Sunday on the strength of “Sunday Night Football,” while football and no World Series competition from Fox helped CBS make big gains over last week, according to preliminary numbers.
Due to the trickiness of tracking live sports, the NFL numbers were approximate. But NBC won the night in the key 18-49 demographic with a 4.6 rating/12 share and came in second in total viewers with 12.6 million. Three parts of “Football Night in America” at 7 p.m. grew from a 1.8/5 and 5.7 million viewers in the first half hour to a 4.2/11 and 11.9 million in the third. The game itself between the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans, had a 5.7/14, up slightly from last week’s preliminary rating, and averaged 15.4 million total viewers. Both numbers will likely rise significantly: Last week’s demo rating was eventually adjusted to a 6.3.
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CBS was second in the demo with a 3.3/8 and first in total viewers with 14.3 million. NFL overrun at 7 averaged a 6.6/18 and 23.1 million total viewers, the highest ratings and total viewers of the night. At 8, “60 Minutes” had a 3.2/8 and 15.1 million total viewers. At 9, “The Amazing Race” had a 2.0/5 and 9.4 million total viewers. At 10, “The Good Wife” had a 1.6/4 and 9.8 million.
Fox was third in the demo with a 1.9/5 and fourth in total viewers with 4.3 million. At 7, NFL overrun and a rerun had a 1.6/4 and 4.3 million. After another rerun, “The Simpsons” at 8 had a 2.5/6 — down 17 percent from its last original four weeks ago — and 5.5 million. (The episode featured a blackboard tribute to Marcia Wallace, who played teacher Miss Krabappel.) At 8:30, “Bob’s Burgers” had a 1.8/4 — down slightly — and 3.7 million. At 9, “Family Guy” was steady with a 2.5/6 and had 4.9 million. “American Dad” at 9:30 had a 1.9/4 — down 10 percent — and 3.7 million.
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ABC was fourth in the demo with a 1.6/4 and third in total viewers, averaging with 6.1 million. At 7, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” was flat with a 1.4/4 and had 7 million total viewers. “Once Upon a Time” at 8 had a 2.3/6, up slightly from last week, and 7.5 million. “Revenge” at 9 had a 1.7/4, up 21 percent, and 6.3 million total viewers. At 10, “Betrayal” had a 1.0/3 — up 11 percent — and 3.5 million.
Univision was fifth with a 1.2/3 and 3.4 million, and Telemundo sixth with a .5/1 and 1.3 million.