Ratings: America Loves Football More Than Beauty Queens

NBC’s football coverage Sunday night dwarfs all comers, while Big Brother” ties for its lowest Sunday telecast ever

Sunday night truly is football night in America, as the overrun and NBC’s primetime coverage easily beat anything that didn’t involve a pigskin — even the one that involved bikinis.

NBC was first in ratings with a 6.3 rating/17 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and first in total viewers with an average of 16 million, according to preliminary numbers.

However, due to the nature of live sports, numbers for CBS, NBC and Fox are approximate.

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“Football Night in America” Part 1 at 7 earned a 3.0/9 and 8.8 million viewers. Part 2 at 7:30 received a 4.1/12 and 11.5 million viewers. Part 3 at 8 earned a 6.2/17 and 16 million viewers. The game itself at 8:30 got a 7.4/19, making it the highest-rated program in primetime, with 18.2 million viewers.

CBS was second in ratings with a 2.9/8 and in total viewers with 10.3 million. The NFL Overrun at 7 earned a 6.4/19 and 20.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched program Sunday night. “60 Minutes” at 8 earned a 2.8/8 and 10.9 million viewers.

“Big Brother” at 9 received a 1.8/4 and 5.9 million viewers — tying for its lowest Sunday telecast ever. A rerun followed.

Fox was third in ratings with a 1.8/5 and fourth in total viewers with 4.5 million. It ran entirely reruns, except where the schedule was pre-empted by football.

ABC was in fourth in ratings with a 1.4/4 and third in total viewers with 6.6 million. Following a repeat, a “20/20: Pageant Confidential” at 8 earned a 0.9/2 and 4.2 million viewers, up 50 percent from last year. At 9, the “Miss America Pageant” received a 1.9/5 and 8.4 million viewers, up 19 percent from last year.

Univision was in fifth in ratings with a 1.0/3 and in viewers with 2.9 million.

Telemundo was sixth in ratings with a 0.4/1 and in total viewers with 918,000.

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